Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (ME UCEDD) Coordinates Training Institute on Evidence-Based Practice Model in Early Intervention

January 26, 2008

Linda Labas

CCIDS NEWS: The Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (CCIDS), under the leadership of Early Childhood Coordinator Linda Labas, M.Ed., recently collaborated with the Maine Department of Education on a two-day training institute to provide Child Development Services (CDS) regional site teams, site directors and state leaders with training in an evidence-based practice model for providing early intervention services in natural environments through a Primary Service Provider (PSP) approach. The training was followed by a planning meeting to implement this evidence-based practice model statewide.

The institute was facilitated by M'Lisa Shelden, Ph.D., PT, and Dathan Rush, Ed.D., CCC-SLP, of the Family, Infant and Preschool Program (FIPP), Morganton, NC. Shelden and Rush provide ongoing technical assistance to several statewide early intervention programs and are members of the National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (NECTAC) Workgroup on Principles and Practices of Services in Natural Environments.

CCIDS will provide ongoing technical assistance and support to the Child Development Services regional site teams as part of LEARNS: Maine's Statewide Systems Change Initiative for Inclusive Education, a State-University Cooperative Project between the University of Maine and the Maine Department of Education.