EIT 101 & Work Group Follow-up: Questions & Misconceptions

It has been a few weeks since our last EIT 101 & Work Group meeting and we really feel like we learned and heard a lot of good feedback. One of the main reasons we wanted to hold these meetings was to hear what the community's thoughts were regarding EIT. As we move forward, we wanted to share some of the questions, comments, or common misconceptions that we gathered from our series of meetings:


1) Will all families be required to switch to an Early Intervention Team (EIT) on July 1, 2010?

No. Our SPOE contract with DESE specifies that we have to meet certain percentages over a 4 year period which began on July 1, 2009. The contractual agreement states that the SPOE must assign at least 25% of all new children found eligible to an EIT by June 30 2011. This means that only new families referred to the program will be assigned to an EIT, but that any existing families in the program at that time, and in areas where EITs have been formed, will have the option to move to the EIT model if they choose to do so. Furthermore, the SPOE must assign an addition 50% of all new referrals to an EIT by June 30, 2012, and 100% of all new referrals will be assigned to EITs by June 30 2013.
It is our goal here in the St. Louis area to focus our initial EIT planning on some of hardest to reach areas in terms of numbers of providers. At this time, we have determined that to be St. Louis City and North St. Louis County.


2) The state is moving to this model to save money-

The transition to EITs in Missouri is a statewide effort to improve the quality and focus of supports that families receive through First Steps in addition to enhancing the structure of our provider base through the formation of teams. First Steps has always been an education program that focuses on strengthening the capacity of the family and primary caregivers for their child. The premise of the EIT model is to support the family and child through assigning a Primary Provider who will develop a relationship with the family that will be important in conveying strategies and activities that are essential to the child being able to learn.




3) Children will receive less therapy in this model-

The decision of how often any provider will visit a family will always be an IFSP team decision. The IFSP team consists of the family, family service coordinator, provider(s), and any other members invited by the family (PAT, relatives, physicians, etc.). With the EIT model, IFSP teams will still make service decisions, but the focus should always be on understanding the family concerns and priorites in the context of their daily life and not a therapy routine. The outcomes in an IFSP should be focused on activities that help support the child's parents/caregivers ability to support their child throughout their daily life. The role of the Primary Provider will be to visit the family on a regular basis, determined by the IFSP team, and provide early intervention support directed at the child and family needs. The IFSP team may also consider utilizing the support of other providers in the way of joint visits. Joint visits are an opportunity for other disciplines, other than the primary, to have direct contact with the child and family, providing coaching and demonstration.




4) Service Coordinators will be picking their favorite providers to be on teams-

The process of developing teams and assigning providers to those teams is a SPOE responsibility. The SPOE Directors for Regions 1 & 2 will develop a process for collecting information from providers interested in being considered for an EIT. There will be an application involved that will ask providers for details related to their particular discipline area, time committment, geographic area(s) of interest.





5) The SPOE will assign teams without regard to providers who already work together-

We value providers who have established professional relationships and have used those relationships to enhance the support they provide to First Steps families. The application process will address this area, however, each provider will be viewed individually first whether they are an independent or work for an agency. In addition, providers will be able to serve on more than one team if needed.




6) As a Primary Provider, will I be asked to provide "therapy" outside of my discipline?

No. It is unethical to ask any professional to provide any service that they are not licensed or trained to provide. However, as the Primary Provider, you will be the main source of education and coaching for the family. You will visit the family more often than the rest of the team, but any "direct" contact needed from another discipline will happen via joint visits. Also, with the EIT model, the Primary Provider will be able to consult with the other team members to bring information back to the family.




7) What type of training will we receive as we move to this model?

We view training as an ongoing need. We heard a lot of great suggestions and feedback from our meetings. Some of those were:

• Basic First Steps Beliefs



• Coaching & Cross Training



• Team Building



• Addressing Soical Emotional needs



• Facilitating Meetings

At this time, we do not have any formal trainings scheduled, but as we discover resources we will post them here on or send out email to the field. We do recommend that you visit the EIT page on the DESE website: http://www.dese.mo.gov/divspeced/FirstSteps/EITEAMpage.htm for additional up to date documentation and information regarding EIT.