Iowa Council for Early ACCESS: Overview

1. Iowa Council for Early ACCESS: Overview Vision: Every child, beginning at birth, will be healthy and successful

2. Council Membership • The Iowa Council of Early ACCESS (ICEA) advises and assists the system of early intervention services in the planning, coordination, and delivery of services to infants and toddlers with special needs and their families. The council currently has 24 voting members consisting of families and representatives of the public and private sector who by virtue of their position, interest, and training can contribute to the quality of services provided to infants and toddlers with special needs and their families. • The council membership is: • Appointed by the Governor’s Office • Organized according to the Federal law, meeting guidelines for its composition of 20% parents and 20% public and private providers or early intervention service. Other required members include representatives for personnel preparation, state legislator, state preschool programs, health insurance, Head Start, state child care agency, and other state agencies. • Balanced according to State law in regard to geographic region, political party and gender. • Meeting information • Meetings are generally held five times a year in September, November, January, March and May. They are open to the public and held in accessible locations.

3. Signatory Agencies and the Council • The Iowa Early ACCESS system has Four Signatory Agencies. The Council is driven by the Executive Committee, which includes representatives from all signatory agencies, and members are Governor appointed. The Council reviews Early ACCESS data and advises and assists the Lead Agency to improve the EA system. • The Four Signatory Agencies Include: • Iowa Department of Education (Lead Agency) • Iowa Department of Public Health • Iowa Department of Human Services • Child Health Specialty Clinics

5. Iowa Department of Education: Lead Agency • The governor identified the lead agency to be the Iowa Department of Education (DE) (in other states it may be the Department of Public Health or Human Services). The Lead Agency is the fiscal and legal agent for administering federal funds under Part C and state funds appropriated to Early ACCESS. Other responsibilities of the lead agency include, but are not limited to: developing and implementing policies and procedures, monitoring, providing technical assistance, and mediating disputes. • Regional-Implementation: The AEAs are Regional Grantees for Iowa’s Early ACCESS System and are known as Regions for Early ACCESS. They each have a fiscal and legal obligation to ensure the EA system is carried out regionally and to deliver many of the required services. • Signatory Agency Representative: Kimberly Villotti

6. Iowa Department of Public Health • Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) contracts with local agencies to provide maternal and child health (MCH) services. MCH programs promote the development of community-based systems of preventive health care for pregnant women, children ages 0 through 21, and their families. Each agency may provide different direct services, which are dependent on the needs of the area.  However, all agencies provide the following Core Child Health services: • Early Periodic, Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) services which is a program for children who are enrolled in Medicaid. The focus of this program is to assure that eligible children ages birth through 20 years receive preventive health care services, including oral health care. In Iowa, the EPSDT program is called Care for Kids. EPSDT Care for Kids services are free to children enrolled in Medicaid • hawk-iOutreach – increased access to health care coverage for children • Oral health services under the I-Smile™ program • Signatory Agency Representative: Marcus Johnson- Miller

7. Iowa Department of Human Services • Provides funding for services through the Infant and Toddler Medicaid program • Child Find, CAPTA referrals (Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act) • The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act – called CAPTA - mandated that the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) refer all child abuse victims under the age of three to Early ACCESS. DHS develops procedures for referring children served by CAPTA to Early ACCESS.  Once referred to the appropriate AEA, children are evaluated for EA eligibility.  As with all families including those involved with the Dept. of Human Services, participation in Early ACCESS is voluntary and parental consent is required for evaluation and service provision. • Signatory Agency Representative: Julie Allison

8. Child Health Specialty Clinics • Vision is to assure a system of care for children and youth with special health care needs. Providers include advanced registered nurse practitioners, registered nurses, registered dietitians and family navigators who have children with special health care needs and who have previous experience with various services and supports. CHSC does not replace a primary care physician, rather they augment and support ongoing health services by helping the family navigate the health care system. • CHSC provides a clinical service program that incorporates a review of the child’s health and development. Though a typical visit to a medical provider may last 10 to 15 minutes, a CHSC clinical visit may last an hour or more. With this available time, the nurse practitioner: • Works as an IFSP team member to improve the development and health of the child • Signatory Agency Representative: Thomas Scholz

9. 2017-2018 Executive Council Slate • Chair – Patrick Judkins • Vice Chair – TBD • Parent Representative- TBD • At Large – TBD • IDPH – Marcus Johnson-Miller • DHS – Julie Allison • CHSC – Thomas Scholz • DE/Lead Agency – Kimberly Villotti • AEA Special Ed. Representative – Annette Hyde