Early Developmental Services Initiative
Through the Early Developmental Screening and Intervention Initiative (EDSI), First 5 LA has launched a strategic partnership with multiple organizations in Los Angeles County to enhance the systems of care that support early identification and promotion of young children's development.
Partners
Partners in the coordination of this project include:
- California State University Los Angeles
- Childrens Hospital Los Angeles
- Cedars Sinai Medical Center
- The Center for Health Care Quality at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
- The UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities
EDSI is also partnering with Public Health Enterprises Foundation Women, Infants and Children (PHFE-WIC) and the BioMed WIC program.
During the planning stage of this project, additional collaborations will be formalized. Organizations and individuals involved in the project team represent parents, parent educators, pediatric primary care providers, and early care and education and family support professionals.
Improving Delivery of Developmentally Oriented Services
Improving the delivery of developmentally oriented services can improve early childhood parenting experiences and the timely identification of developmental problems.
Clinicians, health systems and communities are not effectively providing services that promote optimal physical, cognitive, social and emotional development. Clinicians and other professionals working with young children and families face time and resource constraints.
Given the great gains that are being made in both knowledge of early identification and intervention, and the opportunities that communities have to optimize children's learning and development, many professionals are also reporting a need for more training, as well as greater supports within community systems to make their early identification efforts more effective.
Some professionals feel unprepared and too rushed to meet the multiple needs of the families they serve. Since some key publicly funded programs for young children and families are deficit-based rather than asset-based, there has often been a requirement to frame the needs of a child and family in terms of deficits rather than in terms of building on assets. Eligibility constraints have limited the resources available to promote the earliest identification and intervention before problems become severe.
Vision
To improve early identification and reduce current disparities, our vision is to use a population-based approach to improve developmental services that is family-centered, culturally appropriate, empirically-based, and seeks to address all parent concerns. Through establishing clear roles, responsibility and communication, we believe that pediatric clinicians as well as other "platforms" of early childhood professionals and programs can make better use of their observations and interactions with parents, to assure that parents are well informed and that they receive the appropriate supports.
More Information
For more information, please contact:
Sandy Fuller
209 Lloyd St.
Suite 260
Carrboro, NC 27510
919-960-5415
