SERVICE COORDINATION AND SERVICE COORDINATORS
Service coordination is an active, ongoing process that involves: assisting an eligible child and their family in gaining access to, and coordinating the provision of early intervention services; using family-centered practices in all contacts with families; and coordinating the services identified in the IFSP that are needed by, or are being provided to, the eligible child and family.
Service coordination is provided by the service coordinator who is appointed to a family after a referral is received. The service coordinator is a member of the IFSP team.
Roles & Responsibilities
Roles of a Service Coordinator as a Representative of the Early ACCESS System
- Partner with each family in continuously seeking the appropriate services, resources and supports necessary to benefit the development of each child being served for the duration of the child’s eligibility.
- Assist the family in accessing early intervention services and resources from a variety of informal supports and/or formal community agencies or providers.
- Facilitate communication among early intervention service providers across agencies, resulting in a more coordinated and responsive delivery system.
- Use family-centered practices in all contacts with families.
- Assure the development and implementation of the IFSP within the required timelines.
Additional information on Family-Centered Principles and Practice.
Responsibilities of a Service Coordinator
- Explaining the system of services and resources called Early ACCESS
- Assisting parents of infants and toddlers with disabilities in obtaining access to needed early intervention services and other services identified in the IFSP, including making referrals to providers outside the Early ACCESS system for needed services and assisting parents in scheduling appointments for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families
- Coordinating the provision of early intervention services and other services (such as educational, social, and medical services that are not provided for diagnostic or evaluative purposes) that the child needs or is being provided
- Coordinating evaluations and assessments
- Facilitating and participating in the development, review, and evaluation of IFSPs
- Conducting referral and other activities to assist families in identifying available early intervention service providers
- Coordinating, facilitating, and monitoring the delivery of required services to ensure that the services are provided in a timely manner
- Conducting follow-up activities to determine that appropriate early intervention services are being provided
- Informing families of their rights and procedural safeguards
- Coordinating the funding sources for services
- Conducting referral and other activities to assist families in identifying available early intervention service providers
- Facilitating the development of a transition plan to preschool, school, or, if appropriate, to other services
Service coordination varies both among families and within any given family over time. How often service coordination is provided must be responsive to the changing child and family needs.
Required Documentation of Service Coordination
Ongoing, accurate, and timely documentation of service coordination activities for each child/family must be maintained using the service coordination log. Each log entry must include: child’s name and date of birth, date of service, time in and time out of activity or service, the IFSP outcomes addressed, place of activity or service, mode of contact, name/role of the service coordinator, and a summary of activity or service and/or the result of activity or service.
Notes:
- When the service coordinator is also providing an additional service for the family, documentation needs to be provided for each service. One log note can contain both service coordination and other service information, however, the log note needs to be entered into both the service coordination log and the log for the other service.
- The service coordination logs, although housed in the web IFSP, are not part of the IFSP itself meaning they are not printed and given as part of the IFSP document. However, each service log is a part of the child’s record that parents have the right to inspect if they make a request to see their child’s record.
Required Training for Service Coordinators
All new Early ACCESS service coordinators must successfully complete the statewide training requirements. The training program includes different training formats to reflect the background and knowledge of trainees, including those persons who are state-licensed professionals whose scope of practice includes service coordination.
The six components of the training:
- Shadowing experienced service coordinators;
- Completion of online competency-based learning modules that provide content related to knowledge and understanding of eligible children, Iowa Administrative Rules for Early ACCESS, the nature and scope of Early ACCESS services in the state, and service coordination responsibilities and strategies;
- Completing and turning-in five activities from the online modules;
- Attending one capstone workshop;
- Mentoring; and
- Being observed and receiving feedback on a home visit.
The link to the password-protected online learning modules is: http://www.earlyaccesstraining.com