Navigating Transitions
One of the areas of service we provide through our network of specialized early intervention providers is oversight for families during the transition process—from Part C (First Steps) to Part B (school). Yet our experience with these transitions did not prepare us for the unexpected transitions throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. State mandates, including quarantine and social distancing,
meant transitioning to virtual services overnight in order to provide continuity of services for some of our most vulnerable citizens: infants & toddlers. Now, 16 months after implementing teleservices, we have been able to clearly see benefits of virtual services, ensuring more equitable services statewide.
We are now offering a hybrid approach to services within our CDHHE network. This model consists of one in-person visit per three virtual visits. Feedback from providers and families about how best to integrate virtual services long-term has helped shape this new model. For more information about the coaching model adopted in Indiana and resources check out the Family Guided Routines Based Intervention website.
Among all of these changes, we continue to support families as their children transition out of First Steps on to the next part of their journey in school. We updated our family transition resource: Navigating Transitions for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children in Indiana to include links to our IDEAL documents. This navigating transition resource identifies how to utilize the IDEAL initiative, among other valuable resources as families go through the transition from First Steps family-centered services to school-based services at age three.
We can think of this transition from early intervention to school services as part of a relay race in a track meet. The relay starts when hearing is found to be a potential barrier through the universal newborn hearing screening and identification process. The baton is carried through the First Steps system until the child reaches age three. In relay races, there is a section on the track when the next runner is poised to receive the baton and the first runner has to carefully and precisely pass it on without dropping it to the next runner. This is similar to transition—when the child’s services are passed from early intervention system to the school system. It is important that care is taken to not drop the baton—that both systems are poised and ready for this exchange. The center is supporting families in the process to ensure they are knowledgeable and confident as this transition occurs.