ECI Facts

ECI services are meant to be convenient for families and are provided to children and families in familiar and comfortable surroundings where children can be themselves. This could be at home, at daycare, at grandma and grandpa’s house, or even a restaurant if your child is having behavior problems in public.

There is no income limit. You do not have to receive Medicaid to be eligible for services. No family is turned away because of an inability to pay. Please see the Paying for ECI Services Brochure for more information.

Anyone who has a concern about a child’s development can make a referral to ECI. A child is not required to have a medical diagnosis or physician’s order to be referred. The earlier babies and toddlers receive intervention the easier it is for them to catch up.

ECI acknowledges that families know their children best. The family is the most important part of the ECI team! Working directly with pediatric therapists and developmental specialists, parents learn how to best engage with their child between ECI visits. Initially, the team will evaluate your child and together you will develop a plan for services and continue to assess your child’s progress on a regular basis.

Babies and toddlers learn through play. ECI team members, to include the family, work together to find learning opportunities within the family’s daily routines such as bath time, meal time, and bed time to work on skills that will help their child’s development. In this way, children receive therapy multiple times a day when families are actively working with their children between visits performing daily activities they would already be doing as a family.

Once your child has met their developmental milestones or turns three years old, they are no longer eligible for ECI services. Planning for this transition is an important service that ECI provides. ECI professionals will help you to transition your child into other services as needed before they turn three years old.

Children never have to be separated from their parents or caregivers to receive ECI services. Families are included in all therapy and intervention so they can learn helpful techniques to help their child. Babies and toddlers are most secure with their caregivers at this age and learn best from people they already know.