Be sure to visit our IFSP webpage to better understand the IFSP process.
What is Early Intervention?
Early Intervention is specialized support and services for infants and toddlers (from birth up to age 3) with developmental delays, disabilities, or suspected delays, designed to help children learn and grow during their earliest years. These services are provided under Part C of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a federal law ensuring children with disabilities are educated. Part C of IDEA provides supports and resources to assist family members to enhance infant and toddler’s learning and development through everyday learning opportunities.
What is Early On?
Michigan’s early intervention system for helping infants and toddlers who have developmental delay(s) and/or disabilities or are at risk due to certain health conditions is called Early On. It’s designed to help families find the social, health, and educational services that will promote the development of their infants and toddlers with delays, disabilities, or pre-existing health conditions.
Early On emphasizes early identification and early referral to enhance the development of infants and toddlers with disabilities or delays, to minimize their potential for delay, and to recognize the significant brain development that occurs during a child’s first three years of life.
Who runs Early On programs?
Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP) is the state agency responsible for coordinating Early On, in collaboration with other departments including Michigan Department of Education (MDE) and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS).
At the local level, Early On services are delivered through Intermediate School Districts (ISDs), ensuring that families receive support tailored to their individual needs that may look different in different communities.
Families and Early On providers work closely together to weave learning and therapeutic strategies into the family’s daily activities. Early On provides guidance and support on how to use everyday activities to promote learning so that the child is receiving the best quality intervention. The focus is to provide individualized support to meet the needs of the family, so that the child can learn and participate in the things the family does and the places the family goes.
