Berks County IU 14, PA -

Early Intervention (EI)

What is Early Intervention?

Early Intervention in Pennsylvania consists of services and supports designed to help families with children ages 3 to 5 who have developmental delays. It is a process that promotes collaboration among parents, caregivers, service providers, and others significantly involved with your child. Services help address your concerns about your child’s development and enhance your family’s capacity to meet the developmental needs of your child in the setting where children would be if they did not have a disability.

Early intervention practitioners work collaboratively with families, caregivers, and educators to help children grow and learn, and to prevent the need for more and costly intervention in the future. BCIU Early Intervention is a public special education service provided to children who are experiencing a delay in development. If a child is eligible, he or she will receive appropriate educational services at no cost, through federal and state funds.

Refer a Child for Screening/Evaluation

Early Intervention is the Public School Special Education Parent / Caregiver Training Model for preschool-age students. Parents and guardians, agency personnel, preschools, day care providers, and medical practitioners may refer a child for screening and evaluation to determine if Special Education Services are needed to support learning. This free program is paid for by state and federal funds and is provided at no cost to families.

For information about the Early Intervention (EI) Program, go to Early Intervention Technical Assistance Portal. For the Notice of Procedural Safeguards concerning each child’s special education rights, click on the following links:

>> Ensuring Informed Consent >> Procedural Safeguards

Screening Process

To begin the screening process, please provide the information listed below. This information will help us determine if your child needs to be evaluated and what type of evaluation is needed.

1. Caregiver Insights Form (English | Spanish)

2. Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3)
   ASQ-3 English
   ASQ-3 Spanish
    

3. Ages and Stages Social Emotional Questionnaire (ASQ:SE-2)
   ASQ:SE-2 English
   ASQ:SE-2 Spanish

   
   

4. A Copy of Your Child’s Birth Certificate
   

5. Complete Child’s Health Assessment:
   Physical Exam Form
   Letter to Physician. 
   (Provide the “Letter to Physician” and “Physical Exam Form” to your child’s physician, and request the assessment be completed and returned to the Preschool EI Program as soon as possible).
   

6. Residency Questionnaire (English | Spanish)
   

7. Any Information or Reports You Have that May Be Relevant to Your Child’s Educational Needs

The EI Program cannot determine whether an evaluation should be conducted until you submit items 1-4. Once we have received those documents, they will be reviewed and we will contact you to discuss the next steps.

Program FAQ's

The 5 Developmental Areas of Early Intervention

Learn more about the five developmental areas of Preschool Early Intervention in these short, one-minute videos: