Early Intervention

Early Intervention is a system of support and services designed to help infants and toddlers (from birth to age 3) who have developmental delays or disabilities. Early Intervention aims to give children the best possible start in life.

SUU Early Intervention is a part of the Baby Watch Early Intervention Program with the Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Please see the following information regarding the Baby Watch Early Intervention Program:

• Welcome to Baby Watch ENGLISH
• Welcome to Baby Watch SPANISH

IDEA Part C federal regulations (34 CFR Part 303)

Early Intervention is crucial because it harnesses the power of a child's developing brain during the most critical years. By providing targeted support, we can:

• Maximize a child's potential
• Empower families
• Reduce frustration
• Prevent further delay
• Improve long-term outcomes

These are just a few of the many ways Early Intervention makes a lasting difference!

• Iron
• Beaver
• Kane
• Garfield
• For a list of Early Intervention services in other areas please visit Baby Watch Early Intervention

If you have any concerns about your child's development, it's always best to seek professional guidance!

Here are some indicators that your child might benefit from Early Intervention:

• Significant Delays in Developmental Milestones:
  • Not reaching a milestone could be a sign of a developmental delay.
  • To help you understand these milestones, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides comprehensive information on developmental milestones for infants and toddlers. You can explore these milestones here: CDC Developmental Milestones
  • For example some milestones include:
    • 2 Months: Smiles spontaneously, begins to soothe self, pays attention to faces.
    • 6 Months: Rolls over in both directions, sits without support, responds to own name.
    • 12 Months: Crawls, pulls to stand, says “mama” and “dada”.
    • 18 Months: Walks alone, drinks from a cup, says several single words.
    • 2 Years: Kicks a ball, runs, begins to sort shapes and colors.
    • 3 Years: Climbs well, speaks in sentences, shows affection for familiar playmates.
  • Remember these are just guidelines and do not always indicate that a child needs additional support. When in doubt, reach out!
• Diagnosed Medical Condition:
  • Certain medical conditions, such as Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, or prematurity, can increase the risk of developmental delays. Children with these conditions are often eligible for Early Intervention services.
• Concerns from Professionals:
  • If your pediatrician, daycare provider, or other professionals who interact with your child have expressed concerns about your child’s development you can reach out to Early Intervention for a second opinion and/or to schedule an evaluation.
• Parental Concerns:
  • Never discount your own gut feelings. Parents often have the best sense of their child's development. If you feel something's not quite right, don't hesitate to reach out to us!

Anyone can contact Early Intervention to make a referral. The best way is to fill out our contact form (you can access this below or in the tab to the left). Other options are to email our team  or call us at 435-701-6777.

Referrals are completely voluntary and you can always contact us for more information.

Early Intervention is for children with diagnosed conditions and/or development delays. If a child does not have a significant delay they might not be eligible to receive services. Here are some ways we determine eligibility:

Approved Medical Diagnosis: Children on the Approved Diagnosis List are automatically eligible for services.

Assessment Scoring: We do several assessments during the evaluation process including but not limited to:

• Battelle Developmental Inventory 3 (BDI-3) with a qualified team member. This is one of the main ways that we determine eligibility to our program based on the scores in the different areas of development.
• Health, Hearing, and Vision Screening with a certified nurse. This is where we check the child’s medical history along with doing a vision screener and hearing test.
• Ages and Stages Questionnaires are sent for the family to fill out. We do the ASQ-SE during the initial assessment and ASQ 3 during our review process. Anyone can fill out the ASQ assessments. We go over the results with the family as part of the assessment process.

Based on these results along with any other observations or critical information we determine eligibility for Early Intervention.

Early Intervention services are meant to be provided in a child's naturalenvironment. This is an environment where the child feels comfortable and occurs during regularly scheduled routines and activities during the day. This is most often the home. Services can be provided in other areas of the community based on the parent's preference.

Services will be determined by the parent and the Early Intervention staff. We work together to come up with a plan for visits based on the child’s individualized needs.

This could entail visits that are once or twice a month. This is based on the parent’s preference and it could be more or less depending on family schedules and needs.

Families enrolled in Early Intervention services are required to fill out a Family Fee Determination form after the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) is made. You can access the information about payment costs here: Sliding Fee Scale.

Early Intervention services are meant to be individualized for your family’s unique needs. During the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) goals/ outcomes will be made based on your families routines and personalized concerns and priorities.

During a typical visit specialists will check in about how the goals are going during the time in between visits. They will check in to see if you have any updates and if your family would like to work on anything specific for that day. Based on this different activities and strategies could be shared. This all depends on how you as a parent learn best and what specifically you would like support with. At the end of the visit a discussion will occur about how the visit went and what our family would like to work on between visits. A plan for the next visit can also be made during this time.

The real magic happens between Early Intervention visits so during visits we want to make sure you have all the skills, resources, and information you need to be successful in working on these goals.

Parents have an active role in the Early Intervention process. Parent Rights and Responsibilities are a very important part of Early Intervention. Regular discussions occur about what those rights and responsibilities look like. For more information please look through the Parent Rights and Responsibilities brochures below.

• Parent Rights and Responsibilities 
• Dispute Resolution Model Letters

Transitions are discussed throughout the Early Intervention process. Eligible children will be referred to the local school district (Part B). The family will have a transition conference with the appropriate individuals from the local area. It is important to note that school districts have a separate eligibility process for enrollment which is often more difficult than Early Intervention. During the transition process families and providers will work together to ensure the transition goes smoothly and that the child is ready for the next steps in their education journey.