BCMH (BUREAU OF CHILDREN WITH MEDICAL HANDICAPS)
BCMH is a health care program in the Ohio Department of Health that provides services to children with special health care needs. BCMH may be able to provide services to help diagnose and/or treat a child’s chronic health problem.
CENTRALIZED INTAKE AND REFERRAL SYSTEM
The county process that includes intake, information and referral within the Help Me Grow (HMG) system for families.
CENTRALIZED INTAKE AND REFERRAL SITE
The county site which houses the HMG phone line and performs the duties of the centralized intake and referral system.
DEVELOPMENTAL DELAY
A delay in one or more areas of development: cognitive, physical (including vision, hearing and nutrition), communication, social or emotional and/or adaptive.
DEVELOPMENTAL EVALUATION TEAM
The Developmental Evaluation Team to determine Part C eligibility includes the parents and at least two qualified personnel from two different disciplines. The members of the team must hold the appropriate state license or certification.
DEVELOPMENTAL EVALUATION TO DETERMINE ELIGIBILITY
To determine eligibility for Part C services because of a suspected developmental delay, an evaluation by qualified, licensed personnel must be completed in the following five domains: cognitive, physical, communication, social/emotional and adaptive. Vision, hearing and nutrition screenings must also be completed as a part of the developmental evaluation process.
HOME VISITS
Ongoing home visits are provided primarily in the family’s home. Face to face contacts with the family should occur in everyday routines, activities and places and should include:
- screening of child health and development;
- referrals to service providers;
- family support, information and education;
- parent education that focuses on parent/child interactions, developmental instruction and promotion of early literacy.
INDIVIDUALIZED FAMILY SERVICE PLAN (IFSP)
The IFSP is the interaction, collaboration and partnership between parents and providers resulting in a written plan that lists outcomes for individual families and their infant or toddler and describes resources/services and their coordination that will support those outcomes. The purpose of the IFSP is to identify and organize formal and informal resources to facilitate families’ goals for their children and themselves. The IFSP is a promise to children and families that their strengths will be recognized and built on, that their needs will be met in a way that is respectful of their beliefs and values and that their hopes and aspirations will be encouraged and enabled.
INFORMED CLINICAL OPINION
Informed clinical opinion is used by (licensed or certified) early intervention professionals in the evaluation and assessment process in order to make a recommendation as to initial and continuing eligibility for services under Part C of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ( IDEA). The professional uses both qualitative and quantitative information to shape an informed clinical opinion about a child’s need for early intervention services. In order to reach an informed clinical opinion about a child’s development, the professional may use any or all of the following:
- clinical interviews with parents;
- evaluation of the child at play;
- observation of parent-child interaction;
- information from teachers or child care providers;
- neurodevelopmental or other physical examinations.
MEDICAL HOME
An approach to providing health care services in a high-quality and cost-effective manner. Pediatricians and parents act as partners in a medical home to identify and access all the medical and non medical services needed to help children and their families achieve their maximum potential.
MENTAL HEALTH AGENCY
An agency that provides counseling and psychological services.
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
Specialized services in natural environments is a system of supports to families that promotes interaction between the child and family and the family and community. These supports respect family experience and routines within individual homes, culture and community. Service providers partner with families to plan and implement supports and services at times and locations convenient to the family as described in the IFSP.
ONGOING ASSESSMENT
Ongoing procedures used by appropriate qualified personnel throughout the period of a child’s eligibility in the HMG program to identify the child’s unique strengths and needs and the services appropriate to meet those needs; and the resources, priorities and concerns of the family and the supports and services necessary to enhance the family’s capacity to meet the developmental needs of their infant and toddlers. Assessment can be carried out at varying levels of formality; sometimes it is a structured interview or observation, or it may occur during the intervention. Assessment is a continuous process for program planning after eligibility has been determined.
PARENT
(1) A natural or adoptive parent of a child; (2) The parent with legal custody of the child if the parents are separated or divorced; (3) The guardian or custodian, but not the State if the child is a ward of the State; (4) A person acting in the place of a parent (such as a grandparent or stepparent with whom the child lives, or a person who is legally responsible for the child’s welfare); or, (5) A surrogate parent who has been appointed.
PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS
The term used for parent’s rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Procedural safeguards represent the assurance and process provided by IDEA that protects parents’ and childrens’ rights as outlined in the law.
PUBLIC HEALTH NURSE
A registered nurse who provides public health services through a local health department.
QUALIFIED PERSONNEL
Qualified means that a person “has met State-approved or recognized certification, licensing, registration or other comparable requirements that apply to the area in which the person is providing early intervention services.”
SCREENING
A strategy for determining which children need further evaluation. Not all children are screened; some are evaluated or assessed as a first step in the process of HMG.
SERVICE COORDINATION
The activities carried out by a service coordinator to assist and enable a child and the child’s family to receive the rights, procedural safeguards and services that are authorized to be provided under HMG. These activities may include determining eligibility and coordinating services identified on the IFSP.
TRANSITION PLANNING CONFERENCE DATE
Date of conference must be at least 120 days before the child’s 3rd birthday.
TRANSITION
Every child exiting the HMG system will have a written transition plan as a part of the IFSP. The plan will include the sequence of activities, the individual responsible and the timeline for each activity.
WOMEN, INFANTS AND CHILDREN (WIC)
A food program that provides supplemental foods, nutrition education and referral to health care for eligible women, infants and children. WIC is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is designed to be an adjunct to health care to improve the health status of mothers and children.
WRITTEN MEDICAL REPORT
Appropriate written medical documentation of the stated diagnosed physical or mental condition.
