Early Intervention Programs NYC

Early intervention service coordination combines the traditional case management activities of organizing and coordinating needed services with the philosophy of family centered care. A major goal of service coordination is to create opportunities for the provision of collaborative, family-centered, community-based services for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families. Service coordinators help families identify and prioritize concerns, assist parents in developing of plans and strategies to meet the needs of their children and family units, and strengthen families’ competencies and sense of control over life events.

Service coordination must be provided to all children referred to an Early Intervention Official as suspected of having a disability. Since infants and toddlers with disabilities require a comprehensive array of services that may be provided by multiple agencies or individuals,federal and state laws require the provision of a service coordinator who is responsible for ensuring communication, collaboration, and coordination among providers of service to eligible children and their families.

What is service coordination and who provides it?

Service coordination is defined in regulation as “assistance and services provided by a service coordinator to enable an eligible child and the child’s family to receive the rights, procedural safeguards, and services that are authorized under the Early Intervention Program”(10 NYCRR 69-4.1[k][2][xi]). 1

Service coordination services are provided by qualified personnel who are approved to provide service coordination services by the Department or other state early intervention service agency (10 NYCRR 69-4.5[a]). Service coordinators may be an employee of the municipality or under contract with the municipality. Service coordination services are provided by two types of service coordinators under the Early Intervention Program: initial service coordinators and ongoing service coordinators.

All early intervention service coordinators, whether individual service coordinators or employees of an approved provider of service coordination services, are required to have all of the following qualifications (10 NYCRR 69-4.4). A minimum of one of the following educational or service coordination experience credentials: 

• Two years experience in service coordination activities as delineated in regulation (voluntary or part-time experience which can be verified will be accepted on a pro rata basis); or,

• One year of service coordination experience and an additional year of experience in a service setting with infants and toddlers with developmental delays or disabilities; or,

• One year of service coordination experience and an Associates degree in a health or human service field; or

• A bachelor’s degree in a health or human service field.