The Infant and Toddler Connection (ITC) of Fairfax-Falls Church provides family-centered intervention to children from birth to age 3 who need strategies to assist them in acquiring basic developmental skills such as sitting, crawling, walking and/or talking. ITC is part of a statewide program that provides federally-mandated early intervention services to infants and toddlers as outlined in Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Families receive a screening to determine eligibility, service coordination and development of an Individual Family Service Plan. The family is assigned a “primary provider” who, with support of a multidisciplinary team, meets the needs of the family. This model replaces the previous practice of providing multiple, single discipline service providers to one family and prevents the unnecessary addition of services to Individual Family Service Plans.

Through public and private partnerships, ITC provides a range of services including physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy; developmental services; hearing and vision services; assistive technology (e.g. hearing aids, adapted toys, and mobility aids); family counseling and support; and service coordination. County staff provides central intake, service coordination, initial assessments and approximately 20 percent of the ongoing therapeutic services. Contractors provide the remaining 80 percent of the ongoing therapeutic services. Combined, nearly 72,500 visits with families were provided in FY 2022. ITC staff collaborates with the Health Department, Department of Family Services, Department of Neighborhood and Community Services, Inova Fairfax Hospital and Fairfax County Public Schools to ensure that infants and toddlers receive appropriate services as soon as eligibility for the program has been determined. ITC contracts with individuals who provide interpretation services to meet the needs of families in Fairfax County’s linguistically diverse community.