Project Description:
Project: Early Head Start/UCED Collaboration
Early Head Start (EHS) is a federally funded program for children from zero to three years of age and their families. The program offers families below poverty level home-based and center-based services designed to help each child reach their full potential. This is an important mission because children living at or below poverty level are at significantly higher risk for developmental delay and disability than other children, and EHS services help prevent or overcome those risks. In addition to child-centered programming, EHS also seeks to support families to reach their own goals with regard to employment, education, and parenting while honoring each family’s own culture and values. In Nevada, EHS centers are located in Elko, Ely, Las Vegas, and Reno.
Through its partnership with EHS, the Nevada UCED provides disability coordination and consultative services to EHS so that young children with developmental delay or disability may be identified early, referred to early intervention services, and included in all aspects of the EHS experience in which other children participate. First, Nevada UCED personnel model best practice through direct services such as screening, assessment, and activity-based pre-referral service strategies to EHS families and providers. Second, the UCED supports program development by participating in team problem solving through case reviews and program evaluation, and by training EHS teachers and home visitors to use research-based screening, assessment, and instructional practices that help them address the needs of children on an individualized basis, equipping them to meet each child where they are regardless of developmental delay or disability. Third, UCED staff provides accessible and understandable training and support for families, empowering parents to advocate for and facilitate the growth and development of their children. Fourth, the UCED and EHS have included local early intervention agencies in their partnerships, helping to ensure that children who need early intervention services have access to those services and are prepared to navigate through processes such as eligibility and IFSP development. In so doing, the UCED provides a bridge between what is known about evidence-based best practices in childcare/early intervention and the community in which those practices must be implemented on an everyday basis.
Keyword(s):
childcare, early intervention, collaboration, inclusion, at-risk children
Core Function(s):
Training Trainees, Performing Technical Assistance and/or Training
Area of Emphasis
Education & Early Intervention, Child Care-Related Activities, Health-Related Activities, Quality of Life
Target Audience:
Students/Trainees (long or intermediate trainees), Professionals and Para-Professionals, Family Members/Caregivers
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances, Limited English, Specific Groups
Primary Target Audience Geographic Descriptor:
Single-County
COVID-19 Related Data:
N/A
