Parent Navigators in a General Pediatrics Clinic to Reduce Purchase of Service Disparities
Project Description:
In our experience, many of the families of patients we serve in the AltaMed General Pediatrics Clinic at CHLA struggle with getting connected to the regional center. Families will often report difficulties calling the regional center, filling out forms or applications, and have difficulty receiving desired and/or recommended services. We see families face challenges at two particular time points. The first is when a child is being referred for Early Start services due to concern for developmental delay. Studies show that approximately 60-80% of children referred to early intervention do not complete an evaluation (Moore 2017), this is supported by our clinical experience. The second is when a young adult, who is a regional center client and/or regional center eligible is aging out of the school system and transitioning out of pediatric care; families express particular stress about this transition and are often unsure about supports the regional center can offer during that time. In addition, we see many families of children who are regional center clients and are unaware of the services available to support their child in the community.
These families frequently ask their pediatricians for help in navigating the regional center system and in obtaining services. Pediatricians are often unsure on how best to advise families who report difficulty getting connected to the regional center or receiving services. Therefore, we propose an innovative model to incorporate two full-time Parent Navigators co-located in our general pediatrics clinic to support and connect families to the regional center, overcome challenges with logistical issues, such as making phone calls to or filling out paperwork, and coach families on how to self-advocate for necessary services from the regional center as well as other community agencies. The Parent Navigators will serve as a liaison between the regional center and the client's primary care provider. We will serve individuals ages 0 - 21 years and their families. Given the large number of patients that our clinic serves, this project has the potential of impacting 5000 children and young adults with DD or at risk for developmental delays.
Reference: Moore C, Zamora I, Patel Gera M, Williams M. Developmental screening and referrals: Assessing the influence of provider specialty, training, and interagency communication. Clinical Pediatrics 2017;56(11) 1040-1047
Keyword(s):
Parent Navigators to reduce Purchase of Service Disparities
Core Function(s):
Other Direct/Model Services
Area of Emphasis
Education & Early Intervention
Target Audience:
Family Members/Caregivers, Adults with Disabilities, Children/Adolescents with Disabilities/SHCN
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances, Limited English, Geographic Areas, Urban
Primary Target Audience Geographic Descriptor:
Single-County
COVID-19 Related Data:
N/A
