
Are you concerned about the development, behavior, or mental health of your child?
Here are services provided by the State of CT and Southington Schools plus links to third-party advocates.
Additional resources can be found in the ECCS Resources Directory under Special Needs.
The Connecticut State Department of Education has released a glossary of early special education terminology for community-based providers and families, the Common Terminology in Early Childhood Special Education. The CSDE has developed a new Individualized Education Program (IEP) document with input from a representative group of stakeholders. The CSDE has required the use of this document for all new IEPs written for students in the State of Connecticut beginning July 1, 2022.
The Early Childhood Personnel Center has created a list of Commonly Used Acronyms in Early Childhood Intervention.
You can track and understand your child’s development using the Ages & Stages Questionnaires® (ASQ) which is available via Sparkler, a free mobile app for Connecticut families with children 0-5 and programs serving those families.
The Connecticut Child Development Infoline supports children’s healthy growth and development, starting from pregnancy.
They provide services related to:
Their programs include:
Learn more on this CDI ServiceChart.
Phone: 211 or (800) 505-7000
Web Site: cdi.211ct.org
The Birth to Three program offers early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities, ages birth up to age 3, and their families.
This system was created by federal legislation known as the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Part C of IDEA is the Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities. The mission of the Connecticut Birth to Three system is to strengthen the capacity of Connecticut’s families to meet the developmental and health-related needs of their infants and toddlers who have delays or disabilities.
Phone: 1 (800) 505-7000
Web Site: https://www.birth23.org/
Southington Public Schools offers free screening for parents who have concerns regarding their children’s development, speech and language, and behavior. For children who are three, four years or five old, a preschool speech/language pathologist and/or a preschool special education teacher will conduct the screening.
Special education services are provided to eligible 3, 4, and 5-year-old children with disabilities who are entitled to a free appropriate public education in accordance with their individual needs as mandated by special education law.
The Southington Integrated Preschool program, which has approximately 50% typically developing children who serve as peer models for the students who require special education, meets at Wrinn Preschool Center at Hatton Elementary School (3 classrooms) and Strong Elementary School (1 classroom).
Phone: (860) 628-3200 Ext. 332
Web Site: http://www.southingtonschools.org/parents-students/preschool
More information about Special Education, Early Childhood services, and the transition from the Birth to Three program is from the State Department of Education’s Special Education Department.
Website: https://portal.ct.gov/SDE/Services/Special-Education
Website: https://portal.ct.gov/SDE/Special-Education/Early-Childhood-Special-Education.
Including Children with Disabilities in Connecticut Early Childhood Programs: https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/SDE/Special-Education/Early/InclusionFlier.pdf
The Early Childhood Consultation Partnership (ECCP®) program is one of the first statewide, comprehensive, data-driven, Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation programs in the nation. The ECCP is a state-funded program and is provided at no cost to parents and early childcare centers.
ECCP® provides early childhood mental health promotion, prevention, and intervention services to children who are at risk of suspension/expulsion from early care and education settings due to behavioral and mental health concerns. This is done through consultation, capacity building, and treatment planning around individual children-families and classrooms.
The ECCP offers consultation to parents and early childhood educators to promote children’s social and emotional development for children birth to age five.
Phone: (860) 704-6378
Web Site: http://www.eccpct.com/
Child First™ is a no-cost intensive, therapeutic home visiting program that works with parents and families to help address emotional, behavioral or developmental challenges, as well as learning problems in young children, birth to 6. This program includes a comprehensive assessment of child and family needs; observation and consultation in early care and education; parent-child mental health intervention; development of a child and family plan of care; and care coordination and case management. Interventions are designed to support the parents/caregivers in their role as loving protector and promoter of healthy development of the child.
This program is offered to residents of Southington and neighboring towns via Wheeler Clinic. Referrals can be made by DCF, Birth to Three, a childcare provider or school, the ECCS, or similar organization.
Contact Tracy Krasinski
Phone: (860) 793-4221
Web Site: https://www.wheelerclinic.org/services/wheeler-services/child-first
Mobile Crisis Intervention Services serves children and adolescents experiencing a mental health crisis. It can help youth avoid the negative consequences that can result from mental health crises (such as juvenile arrests) by calling 2-1-1 for both immediate and ongoing support. By dialing 2-1-1 and, when prompted, pressing ‘1’ for ‘crisis’, and then “1” again for “Mobile Crisis” police can gain access to Mobile Crisis’ 14 teams of nearly 150 trained mental health professionals across the state that can respond immediately, face-to-face or by phone, to help manage the child’s behavioral or emotional crisis. In Connecticut, the Department of Children and Families (DCF) provides crisis services for children and youth through the Emergency Mobile Psychiatric Service (EMPS).
Phone: 211
Web Site: http://www.empsct.org/
Connecticut Parent Advocacy Center, Inc. (CPAC) is a statewide nonprofit organization that offers information and support to families of children with any disability or chronic illness, age birth to 26.
Web Site: http://www.cpacinc.org/
Parents, educators, advocates, and attorneys come to Wrightslaw for accurate, reliable information about special education law, education law, and advocacy for children with disabilities.
Web Site: http://www.wrightslaw.com/