Developmental Screening in Your Community ─ An Integrated Approach for Connecting Children With Services

As a professional who works with young children, you know how early detection of delays and disabilities can change the course of a child's whole life. But in today's communities, many programs and providers still struggle to coordinate their screening efforts so children who need services don't slip through the cracks. Integrated, community-wide screening and early detection/child find systems are the answer—and this is the first book with the systematic, big-picture guidance and specific information you need to develop your own system or strengthen and refine your existing system.

Developed by early childhood, medical, and social service experts in screening and assessment, this groundbreaking book helps your community establish an effective early detection system that's comprehensive and low-cost; encourages close collaboration among health, social service, and educational agencies; and meets each child's whole continuum of needs, from universal screening to community services. You'll get detailed guidance on 6 key components of successful community-wide early detection:

1. Program goals
2. Community public awareness
3. Centralized contact and referral
4. Developmental-behavioral screening system
5. Follow-up
6. Ongoing program evaluation

You'll also discover the critical foundations and procedures for:

• connecting everyone who screens children across settings into a single unified system
• ensuring that all parts of the system align and work seamlessly together
• selecting and using the best developmental and behavioral screening measures
• monitoring your system so that all parts keep functioning smoothly and children get the services they need
• improving screening and referrals across diverse settings: early childhood education, social service, and medical home settings
• implementing a successful statewide early detection system (includes specific examples from 10 key states)

With this adaptable, integrated plan for early detection/child find, your community will ensure that delays are caught quickly and all young children and their families get the services and supports they need to thrive.

A featured book in our Successful Screening and Assessment Kit!

Dr. Bricker is the former director of the Early Intervention Program at the University of Oregon and a key developer of the ASQ and AEPSR systems. She has focused her professional career on the development and study of assessment systems and intervention approaches for young children with disabilities and those at risk for developing disabilities.

Dr. Bricker has been instrumental in the development of graduate-level personnel preparation programs that have produced professionals who are delivering quality services to thousands of young children and their families. She has published extensively in the field of early intervention.

Marisa Macy, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Education at Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Kevin Marks, M.D., is a Pediatrician and Pediatric Hospitalist at PeaceHealth Medical Group, and Clinical Assistant Professor in the School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics at Oregon Health & Science University.

Dr. Squires has served as principal investigator on research studies at the University of Oregon on the ASQ system. She is a professor in special education, focusing on early intervention and early childhood special education. She directs the Early Intervention Program and is associate director of the University of Oregon Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities.

Dr. Squires has directed national outreach training activities related to developmental screening and the involvement of parents in the assessment and monitoring of their child's development. She currently directs research grants related to early childhood mental health and systems change related to early identification and treatment of newborn infants exposed prenatally to drugs and alcohol. In addition to her interests in screening and early identification, Dr. Squires directs the doctoral and master's level early intervention/special education personnel preparation programs and teachers courses in early intervention/special education at the University of Oregon.