What Comes After Screening?

	Screening alone isn't enough. The whole point of screening is to see that young children who have developmental delays get the intervention services they need. A screening program isn’t complete without the final step of referral—whether you make a formal referral for a child who qualifies for state and federal programs or an informal referral to local resources and services.

Early Identification, Then Referral

Once a screening tool such as ASQ has been completed by the parent and scored, the professional determines the next step:

• Generally, if a child scores below the cutoff, the professional makes a referral for further assessment or intervention, taking into account factors that may have influenced a child's scores, such as setting/time of day of screening, health, and family or cultural factors.
• If a child scores near but not below the cutoff, the professional should weigh the parents' concerns. If the parents express a substantial concern, the professional may decide to refer for further assessment. Otherwise, you can provide follow-up activities and plan to screen again at the next visit. (The ASQ User’s Guide contains reproducible activities you can send home with parents to work on with their child at home. The Ages & Stages Learning Activities, which contains more than 100 activities, is available separately as a book or CD-ROM.)
• If a child scores well above the cutoff, the professional can talk to parents about opportunities to practice skills, provide activities, and plan to screen again at the next visit.

Early Intervention Services

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), every state is required to provide services to infants, toddlers, and preschoolers who have disabilities or who are at risk for disabilities. Children referred for further assessment after screening may be found to be eligible for these services depending on the results.

Early intervention services for infants and toddlers, covered under Part C of IDEA, include education, health care, and social services. The early intervention "team" may include a variety of professionals, including educators, speech-language pathologists, physical therapists, psychologists, social workers, and nurses.

	For more information on early intervention services and IDEA, read Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities, from the National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center.