Winter 2016 In this issue: • Kansas Initiative for Developmental

Ongoing Screening (KIDOS)

• Kansas Home Visiting

• KITS Collaborative Training Calendar

• ECRC Spotlight

• The IRIS Center

• New to the ECRC

• Message from the Deputy Assistant Secretary Libby Doggett

• For Families

• Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month

KITS Newsletter is published quarterly and supported through a grant from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment – Infant Toddler Services. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of that agency or the University of Kansas, and no official endorsement should be inferred. Previous issues of the Newsletter can be downloaded from: http://kskits.org/publications/newsletter.shtml

Newsletter Editor: Kim Page, M.S. Project Director:

David P. Lindeman, Ph.D.

Kansas Initiative for Developmental Ongoing Screening

(KIDOS)

Kansas early childhood advocates and the communities they serve now have access to resources including a new website, online toolkit, and trainings to help improve the lives of the state’s youngest residents. The Kansas Initiative for Developmental Ongoing Screening (KIDOS) provides resources and tools to improve coordination and provision of developmental and social-emotional screenings for children from birth to 3 years old. With the slogan, “Screen Early, Start Strong,” the initiative acknowledges that developmental screenings are critical to early detection of developmental concerns and ensure healthy physical, social, and emotional development during infancy and early childhood. The KIDOS project is a collaborative effort between the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and the Center for Public Partnerships & Research (CPPR) at the University of Kansas. KDHE serves as project manager, with CPPR providing project coordination and evaluation services. KIDOS is funded by a three-year, $140,000 annual federal Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (ECCS) grant awarded to the state of Kansas in July 2013. The project has also received funding for project enhancements from the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund, a philanthropy based in Hutchinson. KIDOS seeks to expand upon existing efforts and infrastructure in order to effectively coordinate, improve and track developmental screenings and referrals for infants and toddlers across a variety of early-childhood support systems in Kansas, including home visiting, child care and early education settings, families, pediatric health care providers, and early intervention services. A work group of key state leaders chaired by University of Kansas Medical Center pediatrician and professor Pamela Shaw provides project guidance. “Our project works with communities to build and strengthen their systems and coordination for developmental screenings and referrals across sectors in ways that meet the needs of both families and programs,” said KDHE KIDOS Project Manager Deborah Richardson. “We are committed to providing communities with tools to help them take a closer look at the current status of their early childhood efforts, identify areas of improvement and determine steps to reach the desired outcomes.” A key component of the KIDOS strategy is the website and online toolkit: www.screenearlystartstrong.org. Coordinating Developmental Screenings in Early Childhood Systems and Medical Homes: A Toolkit for Communities was developed to provide guidance and resources to communities seeking to examine and improve developmental screening and referral systems. The toolkit contains four phases (Generate Ideas and Dialogue, Initiate Action, Organize for Impact, and Sustain Action and Impact) containing a series of recommended implementation activities.

Volume 25 Issue 1 Winter 2016

The implementation activities are accompanied by concept overviews, exercises, recommended readings, and other resources to assist communities. KIDOS is committed to developing a well-trained workforce by increasing the state's capacity to provide training on the use of the Ages and Stages Questionnaires®, Third Edition (ASQ-3™) and Ages and Stages Questionnaires®: Social-Emotional, Second Edition (ASQ:SE-2). In spring 2015, KIDOS hosted a Training of Trainers seminar provided by Brookes on location in order to develop a cadre available to deliver high quality training. Trainers are available to provide ASQ training to Kansas community partners at no cost.

The KIDOS project supports community access to ASQ Enterprise, a convenient online system for organizing developmental screening programs and managing data from both the ASQ-3 and ASQ:SE. CPPR manages a statewide ASQ Enterprise account to support early childhood programs and health providers. The account is made possible through braided federal and state funding from multiple state agency partners who support increased developmental screenings for Kansas children.

Planning is underway for a series of five summits to be held across the state during Spring 2016. The purpose of the Screen Early Start Strong: A Developmental Screening Summit is to provide communities the opportunity to exchange information on developmental screening and referral and integrate knowledge into community action plans that will improve system coordination. A variety of early childhood and health professionals are encouraged to attend the summits. Please visit the project website for additional information. Visit www.screenearlystartstrong.org for more information about ASQ Enterprise, the Screen Early Start Strong summit, ASQ training availability, and more resources. Submitted by: Loretta Severin

Kansas parents, guardians and communities have a new website to provide support and resources to help babies grow up healthy and happy. Home visiting is a voluntary program that involves meeting with a trained, family-support professional at a time convenient for families. The Kansas Home Visiting program website provides information about home visiting resources in each Kansas County. Home visitors are qualified to answer questions and provide guidance on such issues as maternal and child health, positive parenting, child development and growth, safe home environments, learning and school readiness. Kansas Home Visiting is a statewide collaborative effort led by the Kansas Department of Health & Environment (KDHE) and supported by the University of Kansas Center for Public Partnerships & Research (CPPR). As parents, we all need help at some point – sometimes just that little extra help can make a big difference. The website, www.kshomevisiting.org, identifies home visiting programs by county, provides information about home visiting program models and provides links to resources related to child development, maternal and child health, child safety, parenting tips and many more. This website is supported by the Maternal Infant and Early

Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program. This program began in 2010 as a five-year federal initiative to improve the health and development outcomes for at-risk children through evidence-based, voluntary home visiting programs provided to pregnant women and children, birth to age five. KDHE administers the Kansas MIECHV Program with grant support from the Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The MIECHV Program provides the infrastructure for Kansas Home Visiting. KDHE contracts with CPPR and the Juniper Gardens Children’s Project at the University of Kansas to ensure that data reporting, evaluation, and continuous quality improvement requirements are met. Kansas MIECHV prioritizes data-informed practice and program accountability to a state and federally approved benchmark plan. www.kshomevisiting.org

Submitted by: Betsy Thompson Research Project Coordinator The University of Kansas

Page 2 Winter 2016

Collaborative Calendar of Events Check the KITS Collaborative Training Calendar for information

on a variety of training events for Kansas early childhood professionals!

EVENT / LOCATION SPONSOR / CONTACT / REGISTRATION

3/9 Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: Early Childhood Presentation and Developmental Trajectories

Illinois http://www.cvent.com/events/strategies-to-implement-family-centered-practice-in-early-intervention/event-summary-e2b7ae22e6204012b0c74ae0b182abd7.aspx

3/24 Early Motor Delays: How to Make 0-3 Count for Children with Cerebral Palsy

Early Intervention Training Program at the University of Illinois http://www.cvent.com/events/strategies-to-implement-family-centered-practice-in-early-intervention/event-summary-e2b7ae22e6204012b0c74ae0b182abd7.aspx

3/31 & 4/1 Kansas Infant-Toddler Services/tiny-k Coordinators/Family Service Coordinators/Data Managers/Financial Staff Meeting

Kansas Inservice Training Systemhttp://www.kskits.org/~kskits/cgi-bin/CollCal/EventListing.php

4/13 CEC 2016 Convention and Expo Center for Exceptional Children http://www.cecconvention.org

4/14 Kansas Infant-Toddler Coordinator Conections Kansas Inservice Training System

http://www.kskits.org/~kskits/cgi-bin/CollCal/EventListing.php

4/19 13th National Training Institute on Effective Practices: Addressing Challenging Behavior

Florida Center for Inclusive Communities (FCIC) and the Pyramid Model Consortium

http://nti.cbcs.usf.edu

SubscriberstotheKITSInfant-ToddlerorPreschoolProgramlistservsreceiveinformationalemailsaboutprofessionaldevelopmentopportunities,jobopenings,andotherresources.

Findoutmoreorsubscribetodayathttp://kskits.org/listserv/

Fascinating Facts About . . . Babies A baby cannot taste salt until it is 4 months old. A baby’s eyes are 75% of their adult size, but its vision is around 20/400. The inner ear is the only sense organ to develop fully before birth. It reaches its adult size by the middle of

pregnancy. A baby has around 10,000 taste buds, far more than adults. They are not just on the tongue but also on the sides,

back, and roof of the mouth. A baby can recognize the smell and voice of its mother at birth.

Taken from: http://facts.randomhistory.com/baby-facts.html 4 of 10

Did you

know?

Page 3 Winter 2016

Spotlight on the ASQ:SE-2

Early identification of social-emotional problems is crucial, as more and more children are experiencing poverty and

other risk factors for depression, anxiety, and antisocial behavior. With Ages & Stages Questionnaires®: Social-Emotional, Second Edition (ASQ:SE-2™), a highly reliable, parent-completed tool with a deep, exclusive focus on children’s social and emotional development, you can quickly pinpoint behaviors of concern and identify any need for further assessment or ongoing monitoring. The ASQ:SE-2 is a valid and reliable test with 9 age-appropriate questionnaires for use at 2, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 48, and 60 months of age. Each questionnaire takes 10–15 minutes for parents to complete and just 2–3 minutes for professionals to score. The social-emotional areas screened are: self-regulation, compliance, communication, adaptive behaviors, autonomy, affect, and interaction with people.

Information taken from: http://www.brookespublishing.com/resource-center/screening-and-assessment/asq/asq-se-2/

The ASQ:SE-2 is available and may be borrowed from the KITS Early Childhood Resource Center. Contact Kim Page at resourcecenter@ku.edu or (620) 421-6550, ext. 1638.

Contact the KITS

Early Childhood Resource Center (620) 421-6550 ext. 1651

Toll free in Kansas: (800) 362-0390 ext. 1651 Email: resourcecenter@ku.edu.

Our entire catalog is searchable online at KITS ECRC or http://kskits.org/ecrc/

The IRIS Center and Education Program

The IRIS Center offers a wide variety of resources and services to suit a diverse set of instructional needs and circumstances. In this section, you will learn more about those services and resources, including how they are created and disseminated to IRIS users and educational programs in the United States and around the world. One resource would be the module: Early Childhood Environments: Designing Effective Classrooms. The module has 5 components: Challenge, Initial Thoughts, Perspectives & Resources, Wrap Up and Assessment. In addition, a variety of webinars are held in collaboration with other organizations and centers and have been viewed by thousands of education professionals. Find out more: http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/env/

New to the ECRC Leach, Debra. (2015). Bringing ABA to home, school, and

play for young children with autism spectrum disorders and other disabilities. Baltimore, MD. Brookes.

Squires, J.; Bricker, D.; & Twombly. E. (2015). ASQ:SE-2: ages and stages questionnaires. Baltimore, MD. Brookes.

Stroud, Barbara. (2012). How to Measure a Relationship: A practical approach to dyadic interventions. North Charleston, SC. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Page 4 Winter 2016

Message from the Deputy Assistant Secretary Libby Doggett

2015 was a great year for early learning both in the 2016 Omnibus bill and a new education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Thanks for what each of you did to secure the well-being of children and families in these bills. As the New Year begins, we bid a fond farewell to Arne Duncan, a fierce advocate for children and youth in this country—and everywhere! And we welcome John King, who promises to continue to fight for early learning and equitable educational opportunities for all children. The bipartisan spending bill passed by Congress continued funding for the 18 Preschool Development Grant states through Sept 2016 and will provide nearly 50,000 more children access to high-quality preschool in over 200 communities. The bill also includes a $15 million increase for Preschool Grants for Children with Disabilities, $20 million more for Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities, and over $1 billion increases for Child Care, Head Start, and the Partnership programs. After 14 years, we have a new education law that firmly establishes connections between early education and K-12. Early learning is woven throughout ESSA. The new law, signed by the President, includes a revamped Preschool Development Grant program to help states and communities plan, coordinate and expand their early education programs for children from low-income families. Over the next year, the Department will be seeking advice and recommendations to facilitate a smooth transition to the new law and support students, families, and teachers. Two initial public hearings will be held in January – in Washington, DC and Los Angeles, CA – to collect public input. Written input can also be submitted on or before January 21, 2016. On January 12th, President Obama delivers his last State of the Union address. I know that 2016 will be a great year for early learning. I hope that you take these and other opportunities to make sure your voices are heard. For Families Raising a child with special needs can be difficult enough, but thanks to the worldwide web, the Internet is full of tons of informational websites that can help you and your little one.

Helpful sites that are loaded with useful information for parents with a special-needs child, including information on Autism, deafness, blind-deafness, hearing impairment, intellectual disabilities, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairments, serious emotional disorders, specific learning disabilities, speech or language impairments, traumatic brain injuries, Down Syndrome, and more. Find the full list at the link below: http://www.special-education-degree.net/the-best-websites-for-parents-of-special-needs-children/

Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month

On February 26, 1987, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed March to be “Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month.” This proclamation was made at a time when alternatives to institutionalizing or isolating individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities was taking hold across the nation and organizations such as Clausen House were providing real opportunities for people with developmental disabilities to reach their full potential within the community. As President Reagan then proclaimed “New opportunities have been created through the efforts of those with developmental disabilities and their family members, along with professionals and officials at all levels of government. Working together, they have brought about significant changes in the public perception of young people and adults with developmental disabilities, opening new doors to independent and productive lives. President Reagan invited “all individuals, agencies, and organizations” concerned with the issue to observe this month with appropriate activities aimed at increasing public awareness of the needs and the potential of Americans with developmental disabilities. President Reagan urged all Americans to accord “our fellow citizens with such disabilities both encouragement and the opportunities they need to lead productive lives and to achieve their full potential.” Following President Reagan’s public recognition of those with developmental disabilities, more and more people moved out of institutions and began to integrate into “normal” society. It was the duty of Americans to provide the encouragement and the opportunities that these people deserved. With their integration into society came organizations for job coaching, career planning, and employment support. This change in society was not well received by all. For many Americans, the idea that those with disabilities could be productive members of society was hard to grasp. Initially, there was no legally-bound job security or regulations on employment discrimination. This limited disabled people who sought to integrate

Page 5 Winter 2016

themselves through becoming employed. In 1990, the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) made discrimination against people with disabilities in the work place a sanctionable action. For more information go to: http://clausenhouse.org/2014/2015/02/20/march-is-national-developmental-disabilites-awareness-month/ and http://disabilityrights.web.unc.edu/2014/03/25/the-shift-to-deinstitutionalization/

Kansas Inservice Training System

Training for Early Childhood Professionals and Families

620-421-6550 ext. 1638 Toll free in Kansas at

800-362-0390 ext. 1638 Email: kskits@ku.edu

Website: http://www.kskits.org

The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression and genetic

information in the University’s programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries

regarding the non-discrimination policies: Director of the Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access, IOA@ku.edu, 1246 W.

Campus Road, Room 153A, Lawrence, KS, 66045, (785) 864-6414, 711 TTY.

The University of Kansas

©

Winter 2016 Page 6