What are Early Intervention Services?

Early intervention services are family-centered services and supports that help and assist families in meeting the overall developmental needs of their child.  Early intervention services help meet the developmental needs of the infant or toddler and the family. Services are identified during the evaluation and assessment and agreed upon at the IFSP meeting.  The Service Coordinator helps the family coordinate the services from all providers of services and assists the family through transition.

The Guam Early Intervention System provides the following Diagnostic, Family Support, and Intervention services and support to infants, toddlers, and their families:

• Newborn Developmental Screening
• Developmental Evaluation
• Hearing Evaluation
• Speech/Language Evaluation and Services
• Physical/Occupational Therapy
• Play-Based Therapy
• Social Work services
• Nursing services
• Transition services
• Assistive technology
• Family training, counseling, and home visits
• Medical services (only for diagnostic or evaluation purposes)
• Health services
• Nutrition
• Special Instruction
• Vision services
• Transportation and related costs that are necessary to enable a child eligible under Part C and the child’s family to receive early intervention services

Do I have to pay for early intervention services?

Early intervention services are available at NO COST to the child and family.  However, if your primary insurance (public or private) is able to pay for services, then they will be billed for any services your child and family receive. If your insurance does not cover services, then the Guam Early Intervention System will cover any costs for services, as identified in your Individualized Family Service Plan.  Your Service Coordinator should assist you with coordinating payment for services.  No services, as stated in your child’s IFSP will be denied due to lack of payment.

How do I know if my child is eligible for early intervention services?

Your child may be eligible for early intervention services if he/she is under three years of age and meets one of the following criteria and is in need of early intervention services:

1. Developmental Delay: Your child goes through a transdisciplinary evaluation and is found to have significant delays in his/her  developmental areas.
2. Established Risk: Your child is diagnosed with a physical or mental condition which has a high probability of resulting in developmental delay (such as Down Syndrome or cerebral palsy);
3. Biological At-Risk: History of significant biological or medical condition in which a child may have a greater chance of developing a delay or a disability than children in the general population.  Examples: low birth weight, failure to thrive, prematurity, etc.
4. Environmentally At-Risk: Those whose care-giving circumstances and current family situation place them at greater risk for delay than the general population.
5. Meets ONE of the following factors:
   • Known parental mental illness to include postpartum depression
   • Documented parental cognitive impairment
   • Known parental chemical dependency
   • Documented family history of physical or sexual abuse and/or neglect
   • Parental age of 14 or less
6. Meets FIVE of the following factors:
   • Single parent
   • Maternal age of 16 or less
   • Inadequate prenatal care
   • Tenth grade education or less in primary care giver
   • Dysfunctional home environment
   • Family lacking parenting skills
   • Family lacking social supports
   • Family lacking adequate shelter
   • Child has no well child care by 6 months of age
   • Child is a ward of the state
   • Temporarily placed child or adopted child with no known family history or a maternal history which includes the maternal risk factors
   • Parental chronic illness limiting parenting skills
   • Inadequate or inappropriate parent/child relations

Who can refer my child for early intervention services?

Anyone who has a concern about the development of an infant or toddler can make a referral to the Guam Early Intervention System.  Primary referral sources include parents, family members, doctors, child care providers, or any person who has concerns with a child’s development.

Your child may have already been referred to by his/her doctor, a child care provider, friend, or family member.  You have already made a good start at helping your child grow to be happy and healthy by taking the step to receiving services.  The information GEIS received about your child is confidential.

If your child was referred because of concerns with his/her communication or language development, it is very important to have your child’s hearing tested.  Speech and language delays are often the result of hearing loss or impairments.  A hearing test will most likely be a part of the transdisciplinary evaluation; however, you should ask about it to ensure your child receives the test.

If you have any other concerns about your child’s development and think he/she may be eligible for early intervention services, click here to learn how to make a referral or contact the Guam Early Intervention System (GEIS) at 300-5776 or visit their offices at Oceanview Middle School, H-Wing 804, Agat, Guam.

What happens after my child is referred for early intervention services?

A Service Coordinator from the Guam Early Intervention System will contact you to complete an Intake Form which is part of the referral process.  The Intake is a process where the Service Coordinator can gather more information about the concerns you may have about your child.  If information from the intake process shows concerns with your child’s development, the Service Coordinator will schedule an appointment for your child to receive a transdisciplinary evaluation to determine if your child is eligible for early intervention services.

What happens during the evaluation?
Before the evaluation is conducted, your Service Coordinator will ask you to sign several forms which include your consent to:

Evaluate your child; and
Get information from your child’s doctor or other people you identify (family member or child care provider).
Your Service Coordinator will also provide you a copy of your “Procedural Safeguards” to help you understand about your rights regarding the evaluation and early intervention services.

The evaluation is usually conducted at your home or where your child feels most comfortable, such as grandma’s house or a child care center.  During the evaluation, “you”, the parent, is a critical part of the team and have a lot of information to share about your child. Other team members may include a developmental specialist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech/language therapists, or other professionals who evaluate the overall development of your child and looks at your child’s medical history.  As a member of the team you will share information about the things you and your child do and what things you may have observed are difficult for your child to do.  The team will watch your child playing with toys and see how he/she interacts with others.  The team may also ask you to play with your child and watch him/her interact with you and the toys.  A family assessment will also be conducted with your consent.

What if my child is eligible for early intervention services?

The team, including the parent, will review all the information and results from the evaluation.  If the team determines that your child is eligible for early intervention services, your Service Coordinator will help you schedule the initial meeting with you and a team to develop your Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP).

How long does it take for my child to start receiving early intervention services?

By law, (Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA)), the Guam Early Intervention System has 45 days from the date a referral is made to conduct the Initial IFSP meeting.

What if my child is NOT eligible for early intervention services?

If your child is not eligible for services at this time, the Service Coordinator will give you information and resources to help you continue to learn about child development. They may also give you information and strategies that you can do to help your child. If your child is at-risk for a developmental delay, he or she may be put in the monitor program and a Service Coordinator will contact you at a later time to see how your child is doing and if you have any concerns about his/her development. 

If you continue to have concerns as your child gets older, you can call GEIS again to see if your child may be eligible. If your child is over three years old, you can call the Division of Special Education at 300-1323.