South Dakota Birth to Three is a family-focused, in-home service for children with developmental delays from birth to 36 months of age. A system of services and supports, this program helps families understand their child's development and provides specific training to assist the family in addressing these areas of delay. When a child is eligible for early intervention services, the child's family and a Birth to Three team design an Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP). The role that parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, and childcare providers play in a child's life is incorporated into the plan development.
What is Early Intervention?
Learning begins at the time of birth, so it is crucial to make sure your child gets off to a good start. If you are concerned about any areas of your child's development, there are programs and services to assist and teach you and your family to meet your child's needs better. These services are described as early interventions.
Areas to think about are:
- Movement - rolls over, crawls, walks
- Language - coos, babbles, imitate others
- Behavior and Social Growth - plays well with others, tries to feed and dress self
- Physical Growth - meets guidelines for height, weight, hearing, and vision.
How can Birth to Three help? Birth to Three can help with the following:
- Developmental screening
- Multifaceted evaluation
- Service coordination
- Special instruction, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and other supports may be available.
These services are provided at no cost to the family.
Resources such as Medicaid/private insurance may be accessed.
The South Dakota Birth to Three Program provides family-centered services by:
- Treating families with dignity and respect,
- Providing choices to meet individual family priorities and concerns,
- Sharing all available information so that families can make informed decisions, and
- Providing support that empowers families and enhances parental competence.
The Birth to Three programs at the Center for Disabilities is responsible for providing service coordination for early intervention services to the families of Brookings, Davison, Hanson, Lake, McCook, Miner, Minnehaha, Moody, Sanborn, and Turner counties in South Dakota via a grant from the South Dakota Department of Education, Educational Services and Supports.
To make a referral, please call 1-800-658-3080 or [email protected]. Families living outside of these counties, please call 1-800-305-3064.
For Birth to Three resources, visit: libguides.usd.edu/birthto3