Frequently Asked Questions

How long does the evaluation take?
Evaluations must be completed within 45 days of the referral.
Who does the evaluations and assessments?
To evaluate a child’s developmental status in the 5 developmental areas listed above, a team must be made up of the parents and professionals from at least 2 different disciplines. The professionals must be trained to utilize more than one current and appropriate method and procedure, and must meet the state licensing or registration requirements. The types of professionals can include:
— Audiologists
— Dieticians
— Early childhood educators
— Family therapists
— Nurses
— Nutritionists
— Occupational therapists
— Orientation and mobility specialists
— Physical therapists
— Physicians
— Psychologists
— Social workers
— Special educators
— Speech and language pathologists
What kinds of assessments will they do?
In the state of NH, only two tools are approved to be used to determine eligibility for ESS. They are the HELP (Hawaii Early Learning Profile) and the IDA (Infant-Toddler Developmental Assessment). Other assessment or evaluation tools can be used to help the IFSP team determine your child’s developmental needs.

What happens after I make a referral and meet with the Intake Coordinator?

The Intake Coordinator will bring together a team for a meeting to determine what assessment and evaluations need to be conducted. You as a parent are a member of this team along with professionals from two or more disciplines, and any other individuals you may feel have important information about your child. This can include another family member, a child care provider, a family friend or your child’s doctor(s).

The Intake Coordinator will ask for your written parental consent for any evaluations or assessments that ESS would like to conduct.  They may also ask you to sign a permission to share information so that they may contact your pediatrician. If you have any evaluations or tests from a doctor you should share them with the team.

The evaluations include an assessment of your child’s present level of performance in each of the five developmental areas:

  1. Cognitive development
  2. Physical development (including hearing and vision)
  3. Communication development
  4. Social and emotional development
  5. Adaptive development

Parents have the right to choose where the evaluations will be done and are actively involved in the evaluation process.  Also, if you agree and the extent you agree, a family assessment may be conducted so that your description of your family’s needs, concerns, priorities, and resources is included.

Next Step - Determing Eligibility