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| Fairfax County Special Needs Registry |
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| Northern Virginia Regional Partnership Planning Project |
Infant Toddler Connection
The Infant & Toddler Connection of Fairfax-Falls Church provides evaluations and early intervention services to eligible infants and toddlers who have a developmental delay and who are younger than three years old. Families concerned about their child's development are encouraged to call 703-246-7121, TTY is 703-324-4495. The intake coordinator will discuss the concerns about their child's development and set up an appointment for a screening and/or an evaluation. A service coordinator is then assigned to be a primary contact for the family and to coordinate the evaluation and services.
If the child is found eligible for services then a service plan is developed by the family, evaluation team, and the service coordinator. The plan focuses on what the family wants the child to accomplish and how activities in the child and families everyday routines can be used to reach the goals.
The evaluation, service coordination and development of the plan are free. If a child is eligible and needs services then fees are charged the services on the plan. A fee plan is available to make fees affordable for each family.
Services are provided as outlined in Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA). IDEIA is federal legislation that requires participating states to make early intervention services available to families. The law also outlines requirements and procedural safeguards for families. The Infant & Toddler Connection of Fairfax-Falls Church is part of the statewide Infant and Toddler Connection of Virginia (www.infantva.org) and coordinates a variety of private and public resources.To find answers to your questions, and more information about our organization, please follow the links on this page.>
Click here for a map to Infant & Toddler Connection offices in English and here for a map in Spanish (both documents in PDF format).
Would You Like To Find Out... What services does the Infant & Toddler Connection of Fairfax-Falls Church provide? What concerns does the Infant & Toddler Connection of Farifax-Falls Church address?
The Infant & Toddler Connection of Fairfax-Falls Church provides:
- Free service coordinator to work with each family to coordinate the evaluation, development of an individualized family service plan (IFSP) and to monitor services.
- Free multidisciplinary evaluation to determine child eligibility. A screening is sometimes completed first to determine if an evaluation is recommended.
- Free development of an individualized family service plan (IFSP) that focuses on developmental outcomes (goals) for each child and family.
- Early intervention services listed on the IFSP. There are the services that are needed to work on the identified developmental outcomes. The most common services are Physical Therapy, Special Instruction, Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy. The service is typically provided in the home or daycare and focuses on consulting with parents and caregivers about ways to promote developmental in their daily activites.
- Family Support services are also available to help families get information and connect families to other families.
- Transition planning for resources families may need when their child leaves the Infant & Toddler Connection. This may include assistance in applying for services with public schools and/or exploring private resources.
What concerns
does the Infant & Toddler Connection of Fairfax-Falls Church
address?
The Infant & Toddler Connection
addresses concerns about child development. All children develop at their
own pace, and learn and express themselves in their own way. Still,
development usually proceeds in a certain order, with milestones reached
along the way. These milestones increase in complexity as time goes by.
Here are some examples of developmental milestones:
- At 3-6 months, rolling from his back to his tummy while lying down
- At 11-12 months, saying “mama” or “dada” specifically
- By 12 months, pulling himself to a standing position by holding on to furniture
- By 15 months, feeding himself with his fingers
- By 24 months, beginning to put two words together
Families are encouraged to call if there is a concern about a child’s progress in meeting a developmental milestone. Families are also encouraged to call if their child has a medical diagnosis that may impact their child’s development. The intake number is 703-246-7121, TTY 703-324-4495..
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How do families get
services from the Infant & Toddler Connection of Fairfax-Falls
Church?
A call is made to the intake coordinator at the Infant & Toddler
Connection at 703-246-7121, TTY 703-324-4495. Parents usually make the
call in response to their concerns or those of the child’s physician. The
intake coordinator will discuss with the parent the concerns and collect
information needed to set up an evaluation. Sometimes a screening is
completed first to determine if an evaluation is recommended. Translators
will be provided for families when needed. Every family is assigned a
service coordinator who is a primary resource contact for the family and
helps to coordinate the evaluation, development of a plan and services.
The intake coordinator will set up an evaluation within 45 calendar days of the time of referral. This evaluation usually takes place in the home so that the child can be seen in his or her most comfortable environment. During the evaluation, early childhood interventionists representing two disciplines assess the child’s unique developmental strengths and weaknesses to determine if he or she is eligible for Infant & Toddler Connection services. Developmental areas assessed include cognition, movement, speech and language, social and emotional, vision and hearing, and self-help skills. In Virginia a child is eligible if they have a 25% delay in one area, atypical development, or a diagnosis determined to likely to result in a developmental delay.
If the child is eligible, then an individualized family service plan, or IFSP is developed. The IFSP contains a description of the child’s level of development and includes outcomes (goals) the family would like the child to be able to accomplish. The team then determines what services and frequency of service are needed to help the family. When the IFSP is complete the family is assigned to a program. An interventionist from the assigned program then works with the family to use the existing child and family routines to help the child meet the goals. The services are typically provided in the child’s home or day care setting. The service coordinator continues to work with the family and the interventionist to be a resource and to coordinate changes to the IFSP.
An example of Infant & Toddler Connection services:
A parent calls because their toddler is not walking at 20 months. The child is evaluated, found eligible and an IFSP was developed. The outcomes in the IFSP focused on walking skills. It is recommended that a physical therapist be the interventionist to work with the family two times a month. The physical therapist visits the family in the home to learn more about the activities for the child and family and to make suggestions for the family to incorporate into their activities. She gives them specific ideas of ways to position him during play times to help the child build skills and meet the goal of walking. During each visit the therapist assesses the child’s progress and talks with the parents about how the suggestions have worked since their last visits. New suggestions are made as needed.
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Is there a
cost?
Some services are free and others have charges. The
multidisciplinary evaluation, service coordination, and IFSP development
are free. There is a fee for most other services listed on the IFSP.
Families complete a financial agreement before services begin so they
fully understand the charges. The financial agreement has several steps
to make sure that fees are not a hardship. Families choose whether they
want to try to bill charges to their insurance. Families also choose
whether to pay full charges or use a discounted fee scale based on income
and family size in the event that insurance does not cover the charge.
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Can the Infant & Toddler Connection of Fairfax-Falls
Church help families find other community services?
Service coordinators work with families to find other resources and
community services. In addition, a Family Resource Coordinator, Paula
Gorman, is also available to assist parents in the program. Ms Gorman
coordinates various activities to provide information and opportunities
for families to make connections with other families. Contact the Family
Resource Coordinator at 703-246-3153, TTY 703-324-4495 or at Paula.Gorman@fairfaxcounty.gov.
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Resouces and Links
Virginia Infant & Toddler Connection | http://www.infantva.org
This is the state agency responsible for the statewide system. They have
information on their website for families, physicians, and other
professionals.
Fairfax County Health Department | http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/hd
This county agency provides a variety of services including pediatric
care, hearing testing, immunizations, and speech and language
services.
Fairfax County Office for Children | http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/ofc
This county agency provides assistance in locating child care centers
and in-home providers. This website also has information about Head Start
programs.
Fairfax-Falls Church Public School Preschool Child Find Program | http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/ss/preschool/childfd1.htm
Evaluates and provides services to eligible children ages 2-21 who live in Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax.
City of Falls Church Public Schools | http://www.fccps.k12.va.us
Evaluates and provides services to eligible children with developmental
delays ages 2-21 who live in the City of Falls Church. The main phone
number is 703-248-5600. The Director of Special Education and Student
Services phone number is 703-248-5630. TTY access through Virginia Relay,
711.
The Arc of Northern Virginia | http://www.thearcofnova.org
Provides information and referral services and advocacy for children and
adults with developmental disabilities.
