By Joan Benso, President and CEO, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children
In the past year, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children (PPC) has collaborated with professionals from across the commonwealth to understand the state of developmental screening. PPC’s overarching organizational mission is to make Pennsylvania one of the top 10 states to be a child and to raise a child. Improving the rate of developmental screening can be an important step in helping us get there.
Developmental screening serves as a critical first step to ensure a child’s healthy development. To begin sharing the lessons learned on developmental screening in Pennsylvania, PPC created the infographic below to help educate legislators, policymakers, community members and families. As we move forward, additional audience-specific infographics are being considered for groups such as health care providers, early learning professionals and families.
When the new school year arrived, nearly 10% of the children entering classrooms were developmentally behind their peers. A child’s first three years of life are marked by tremendous growth. Detecting possible delays in development is an extremely important step toward getting children the services they need to better prepare them to learn and grow up healthy. When delays are not recognized early, children must wait to get the supports and interventions that can help them develop. Conducting a screening is just the first step in determining possible delays in development and helping a child reach his or her fullest potential. Such screenings can set in motion a series of beneficial evaluations and follow-up interventions that can help improve child development and school readiness.
The American Academy of Pediatrics publication “Bright Futures” recommends that, at any age, whenever observation suggests a “developmental concern to perform a developmental screening using a standardized tool. Standardized developmental screening is recommended on all children at 9, 18, and 24 or 30 months.”
PPC is continuing to engage leadership in the health care and early learning communities, including staff from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services and the Pennsylvania Department of Health, to find common solutions. The work to date has included identifying and analyzing gaps and barriers with a shared goal of increased screenings, referrals and linkages to services. PPC is committed to aligning and integrating our project goals with similar efforts in state government.
Pennsylvania needs to find a better way to make sure children are screened for developmental delays to help them get the best possible start in life. Pennsylvania is fortunate to be among six states that are directly supported by the Georgetown Center for Children and Families and the National Association of State Health Policy and are actively engaged in improving developmental screening rates, referrals, and early intervention resources. In addition to this infographic, there are a few Pennsylvania resources available to help families of young children and the professionals that work with them to support healthy development:
- The CONNECT Helpline. CONNECTServices (toll free: 1-800-692-7288), which anyone can call to refer a child for further evaluation or to learn more. The Early Learning GPS, developed by Pennsylvania’s Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) to help families understand their child’s development and the resources available to them. You don’t even have to only live in the state to use it.
- Get your child a passport! A Developmental Screening Passport from Birth to Five: Watch Me Thrive (which has multiple useful resources available to families and professionals).
To learn more about Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children’s work in developmental screening and other areas related to child well-being, visit papartnerships.org.
