Highland County Board of DD offers variety of early childhood programs
(Submitted photo)
The early childhood programs at Highland County Board of DD not only collaborate with each other but also have a far and wide outreach throughout the community and with state agencies. We consider ourselves small but mighty.
To show how diverse we are, each program has a different state agency that currently dictates the rules and regulations. The Hills and Dales preschool reports to Ohio Department of Education, and Help Me Grow home visit is under the Department of Health, while the early intervention reports solely to the Department of Developmental Disabilities.
We are excited about a new cabinet that Governor DeWine is putting in place that will combine these and many other entities into a new Children’s Cabinet for kids birth through 6. We are awaiting details that should be coming together as early as July.
Collaboration, communication and growth have been hallmarks of HCBDD that stem from our diverse programs. In fact, the Help Me Grow programs that are composed of both home visiting and early intervention served well over 300 children last year. Many of these children transition to our preschool or to one of the other five-plus districts in the county.
How do we come about these kids; you ask? We have amazing community partners. We routinely interface and take referrals from medical partners as well as the local health department and Child Protective Services to name a few. Our favorite referral source is parents. They are their child’s first teacher and play the biggest supporting role. We also have many other collaborators in the community.
A quick recap of our 0-3 service is early intervention works with children and their families to enhance the child’s development through everyday learning opportunities and routines. EI serves and supports infants and toddlers, birth to 3 years of age, with a delay, disability or diagnosed medical concern. The EI team consists of Service Coordinators, Nursing, Developmental Specialists and Occupational, Speech and Physical Therapists.
A new addition in the last year is our ADEP (Autism Diagnosis Education Project) Program. In Highland County, 16 evaluations were completed, and seven children received a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. This new service saves families from the long drive, multiple appointments and over a year wait at most children’s hospitals.
Our home visiting program has changed their model to Parents as Teachers (PAT). This model allows children who are eligible to enroll up to age 2, and services can be provided for 36 months, potentially up to age 5, depending on enrollment age.
HMG staff completed the Parents as Teachers curriculum, new to HCBDD this year, to provide quality services to this new age group. In addition, HMG was awarded the Maternal Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) grant.
Help Me Grow Home Visiting offers themed monthly playgroups to families. If you want to refer to either program, please follow this link: https://odhgateway.odh.ohio.gov/ochids/public/refer.