AzEIP FIRST! - The Early Intervention Program
SERVICES
- What is the AzEIP FIRST! program?
- How do I know if my child needs early intervention?
- Who is eligible for AzEIP services?
- What will AzEIP FIRST! do?
- What support services are available through AzEIP?
- Where are AzEIP supports and services provided?
- How do I make a referral to AzEIP?
What is the AzEIP FIRST! program?
The Arizona Early Intervention Program (AzEIP) is the statewide system of supports and services available to families of children birth to three years of age who have disabilities or developmental delays.
What is early intervention?
Early intervention brings your family and professionals together, working to support your child’s growth, development and learning. Early intervention builds upon your child and family’s strengths. Early intervention focuses on enhancing your child’s participation in family routines and community life.
Who is eligible for AzEIP services?
AzEIP services may be available to any child birth to three years of age who is developmentally delayed or has an established condition which has a high probability of resulting in developmental delays.
A child is considered to be developmentally delayed when he or she has not reached 50% of the developmental milestones expected at his or her chronological age in one or more of the following areas:
- Cognitive development
- Physical development, including vision and hearing
- Communication development
- Social or emotional development
- Self-help or adaptive development
Established conditions that have a high probability of resulting in developmental delay include, but are not limited to:
- Chromosomal abnormalities (e.g., Down syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, etc.)
- Intraventricular hemorrhage
- Cerebral palsy
- Metabolic disorders (e.g., Maple Syrup Urine Disease, Phenylketonuria, etc.)
- Neural tube defects (e.g., spina bifida, etc.)
- Microcephaly
- Hydrocephaly
- Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
- Autism/Pervasive Developmental Delay
- Failure to Thrive
- Traumatic brain injury
- Seizure disorder
- Significant auditory impairment
- Significant visual impairment
How do I know if my child needs early intervention?
You know your child best. If you have any questions or concerns about how your child sees, hears, plays, interacts, learns, communicates, or moves, call AzEIP FIRST! at 1-800-841-5201.
What support services are available through AzEIP?
The following services are offered through AzEIP for children and families who are eligible:
- Assistive Technology services
- Audiology services
- Family training, counseling and home visits
- Health services
- Medical services for diagnostic and evaluation purposes only
- Nursing services
- Nutrition services
- Occupational Therapy services
- Physical Therapy services
- Psychological services
- Service Coordination services
- Social Work services
- Special Instruction
- Speech-Language Pathology services
- Transportation and related costs
- Vision services
If a child is referred to AzEIP, an early childhood specialist will contact the family to explain early intervention services and to identify any specific questions or concerns that the family may have. If the family is interested in a visit from the early childhood specialist, an appointment will be scheduled to meet with the family at a time and place of their choosing, which is typically the family’s home. The early childhood specialist works with the family as their service coordinator. During the visit, the early childhood specialist will:
- Listen to the family’s concerns, hopes, priorities and questions
- Answer the family’s questions and give more information about early intervention
- Help the family identify other people who they may want to be involved
- Assist in discovering how the child best learns, communicates, moves and plays
- Provide information and supports to meet the individual needs of each family
- Identify resources in the community that match the family’s priorities and concerns
If a child is determined eligible for the Arizona Early Intervention Program, the early childhood specialist/service coordinator arranges a meeting to develop an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP). Family members, the service coordinator, individuals involved in the child’s assessments, and other appropriate individuals that the family wants to include, work as a team to develop outcomes for the child and family. The team members share information and resources, and identify strategies, activities, supports and services that will help the child and family achieve these outcomes.
A family may stay enrolled in AzEIP until their child turns three years old or no longer needs early intervention. As the child nears two and a half years of age, the service coordinator, family members and other IFSP team members will begin planning the child’s transition from AzEIP services into another program, if appropriate.
If it is determined that a child is not eligible for AzEIP, he or she may be enrolled in a tracking program in which an early childhood specialist periodically monitors the child’s development using a screening checklist.
Where are AzEIP supports and services provided?
Early intervention services must be provided in natural environments to the maximum extent possible. “Natural environments” means settings that are natural or normal for the child's age peers who have no disabilities. Early intervention services can only be provided in settings other than natural environments (such as clinics, hospitals, etc.) when the team feels that outcomes can not be achieved satisfactorily in natural environments. However, the child’s Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) must provide justification for why outcomes/strategies can not be achieved in natural outcomes and must include a plan and timeline to move services into natural environments.
Who provides services through AzEIP?
A referral to AzEIP connects families with these AzEIP participating agencies:
- Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES)
- DES/Arizona Early Intervention Program (AzEIP)
- DES/Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD)
- Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS)
- Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (ASDB)
- Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS)
- Arizona Department of Education (ADE)
How do I make a referral to AzEIP?
Contact AzEIP FIRST! at one of the following addresses:
- AzEIP FIRST!
3343 N. Windsong Drive, Suite 5
Prescott Valley, AZ 86314- Phone: (928) 759-5591 or
toll-free: 1-800-841-5201
Fax: (928) 759-5593
- Phone: (928) 759-5591 or
- AzEIP FIRST!
Institute for Human Development
at Northern Arizona University
P.O. Box 5630
Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5630- Phone: (928) 523-7075
or toll-free: 1-800-841-5201
Fax: (928) 523-7941
- Phone: (928) 523-7075
Institute for Human Development
P.O. Box 5630
Flagstaff AZ 86011-5630
(928) 523-4791
(928) 523-9127 Fax
(928) 523-1695 TTY
Email: Elizabeth.Reeg@nau.edu