St. Louis Area First Steps- SPOE: Updated COVID-19 Temporary Guidance for Face-to-Face Visits and Meetings

Friday, April 3, 2020

Updated COVID-19 Temporary Guidance for Face-to-Face Visits and Meetings

To: Missouri First Steps SPOE Directors, Service Coordinators and Providers

From: Beth Loethen, First Steps Program Coordinator

Re: Updated COVID-19 Temporary Guidance for Face-to-Face Visits and Meetings

Date: April 2, 2020

As the COVID-19 situation continues to unfold in Missouri, First Steps is committed to the safety and health of all those involved in our early intervention program.

On March 18, 2020, Missouri First Steps suspended all face-to-face meetings and services. This suspension will remain in effect until April 30, 2020. This suspension includes intake and direct service visits, Individual Family Service Plan and Early Intervention Team meetings.

Please review the updated guidance available on our First Steps https://dese.mo.gov/special-education/first-steps. This guidance outlines several temporary policies allowing SPOE Directors, Service Coordinators and Providers to utilize alternate and virtual methods for referral, intake, evaluation, assessment, meetings and service delivery. These temporary policies are intended to allow for some continuity of services and communication between First Steps families and their Early Intervention Team, as well as, respecting the health of all involved.

This guidance also accompanies the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs guidance on ensuring the provision of early intervention services to infants and toddlers with disabilities during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This document may also be found on the DESE webpage.

We will be hosting a series of Zoom meetings for providers and Service Coordinators to address any questions there may be surrounding this guidance:

Reg 1:

Reg 2: