Missouri seeks to ensure that every child has a medical home providing well child care, immunizations and medical care as needed. First Steps supports this goal by assisting all families to locate and link with a primary medical home upon referral to First Steps.

The Health Summary should be sent to the child’s medical home/primary care physician so that this information is available to the individuals who will be doing the evaluation for eligibility.

The Release of Information form must be signed by the family to obtain existing records.

The physician should sign and return the Health Summary form to the SPOE.

First Steps Key Premises

Builds family capacity

• The specific issues that families identify to enhance their skills related to their child's needs will be incorporated as an outcome(s) in the IFSP and those strategies and activities, including who is responsible for assisting the family.

• The Intake Coordinator will interview the family, with their permission, using Section 5 of the IFSP "Summary of Family Concerns, Priorities and Resources to Enhance the Development of their Child".

Services in Natural Environments

• To the maximum extent appropriate to meet the needs of the child, early intervention services must be provided in natural environments, including the home and community settings in which children without disabilities participate.

• If the team determines that any or all services will not be provided in the natural environment, a justification must be written on the IFSP.

Payor of last resort

• The CFO processes authorizations for services for eligible children and their families based upon eligibility determination activities or the IFSP, and then pays providers for these services utilizing a fee for service reimbursement approach.

• The CFO then manages the recovery process with other funding sources, such as MC+, to ensure that the "payor of last resort" requirements are met.

Remember - First Steps is not . . . . a medical program!

Review Questions (HINT: remember Maslow's chart and PACE!):

1. What information might be difficult for families to share?

2. What information might be difficult for service coordinators to ask a family to share?

3.What are some interview strategies that I could use to ensure a family-friendly process that seems more interrogative?

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