Resources

Our recommended resources for providers can help your practice expand and improve developmental screening services. Resources for families are also included – tell caregivers about these resources, or distribute these materials to help them track and support their children’s development. These resources are updated yearly, if you have additional resources you would like to recommend, please email them to DevScreen@la.gov. 

Regional Resources

Developmental Screening Resource Guides

These guides were created to help providers refer families to relevant services and share screening-related resources. Go through these guides together with the family to help them begin to explore and evaluate their options. Each regional guide has local contact and referral information for agencies and services, as well as more family-oriented resources such as milestone tracking apps. Check out the video below to learn more about these guides:

Click on your region of this map to the right to view the guide for your area. Each of the 3 guides focuses on one of the following topics: 

• General & Social Emotional Development
• Autism
• Family Wellness

Department of Education's Early Childhood Community Network

Use this interactive map to find customized Learn the Signs Act Early materials and local early child care and education contact information for each parish.

For Providers

• Screening Technical Assistance & Resource Center/Screening Time: AAP’s resources and trainings on comprehensive developmental screening. Offers free CME/MOC Part 2 trainings.
• AAP’s Physical Developmental Delay Online Tool: This tool helps determine if a child has physical developmental delays. You can use this in your clinic or share it with families.
• Center for Evidence to Practice: Find evidence-based mental health providers for children and parents in Louisiana. 
• Motivational Interviewing in Health Care Settings: Opportunities and Limitations: This paper provides a brief overview of Motivational Interviewing and suggestions for addressing issues you may experience when communicating with caregivers during the screening process.
• Reach Out and Read: A way to promote reading by providing books to families at well-child visits. Resources are available for parents of children of different abilities (e.g., language delay, developmental delay, ADHD, ASD).
• Center on the Developing Child: Harvard’s research center with numerous resources to help communicate the science of child development.
• Louisiana Department of Early Childhood Special Education Resources: Find useful information such as how to help children transition from the early intervention system to the school special education system.

Quality Improvement

• American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Quality Improvement in the Pediatric Practice: An introduction to QI and the PDSA framework. Topics covered include the basics of QI, creating a QI team, and how to complete a PDSA.
• The National Institute for Children’s Health Quality (NICHQ) Quality Improvement 101: A self-directed course that introduces quality improvement science concepts. QI 102 provides lessons, exercises, and examples of best practice, and direction on moving from one PDSA cycle to another.

Statewide Resources

• EarlySteps is the Early Intervention Program for Louisiana Families with children ages 0 - 3 years old. Anyone can refer a child to EarlySteps, and they will do the necessary evaluations to determine if the child is eligible. To receive early intervention services, a child must exhibit deficits in two domains (e.g., physical, verbal, and visual). As such, many children are not eligible if they have risk indications in only one area or are not already experiencing significant delays. Thus, it is crucial to ensure that EarlySteps is not the only referral – families should immediately be referred for additional evaluations and services beyond EarlySteps. To refer a patient, contact the Intake Coordinator at the System Point of Entry Office in your region and complete the referral form found on this page under "Resources".
• The Family Resource Center is available to support pediatric providers and families of children with special health care needs across the state of Louisiana. The Family Resource Center assists providers in linking families to resources, including support services such as early intervention, childcare assistance, insurance, and disability support.
• Universal Newborn Hearing Screening and Early Identification follows children who do not pass their newborn hearing screen. If the child does not seem to be responding to noises (a common red flag for developmental delays), check the LA EHDI-IS system to view their newborn hearing screening result, or contact the EHDI program for more information. If a parent is concerned about their child’s hearing, refer them to an audiologist to have the child’s hearing screened again. Use EHDI-PALS to locate an Audiologist in your area. They can help make referrals to additional community resources.
• Louisiana Mental Health Perinatal Partnership provides real-time mental health consultation to healthcare providers serving pregnant and postpartum people and their families. They help providers determine the best next steps for patients and caregivers who are experiencing perinatal depression, anxiety, substance use disorders, and interpersonal violence. They can help make referrals to additional community resources. 
• Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) are required to provide care coordination services for children and families enrolled in Medicaid. You can find contact information for referring children and families to the care coordination services with each Managed Care Organization here.
  
  
  

Resources to Share with Families

• CDC’s Learn the Signs. Act Early.: The program encourages parents and providers to learn the signs of healthy development, monitor every child’s early development, and act early when there is a concern. Free checklists and other tools available in their online toolkit can be distributed and discussed during well-child visits to encourage developmental monitoring.
  • Milestone moments booklets: These booklets help caregivers track their children’s development, support their growth, and make a note of concerns. The booklets include guidance on what to look for at home, and what to ask providers about.
  • Children’s books: Books for caregivers to read to their 1-3-year-olds. These books include quick tips and information for caregivers related to milestones.
  • Milestone Tracker Mobile App: Caregivers can access and complete developmental milestone checklists, watch videos of milestones in action, and find developmentally appropriate activities through this app.
    • Milestone Checklists: Can also be downloaded and printed with local contact information for your parish from the Department of Education's interactive map. 
  • Milestones in Action – Online Video Library: An online library of videos demonstrating various milestones. We recommend showing these videos during appointments on a tablet or laptop to show parents different milestones.
• Vroom Mobile App: A science-based mobile app with daily brain-building activities for parents to do with their children.
• Zero to Three: A collection of the highest trending resources on child development for parents.
• Sesame Street in Communities: Activities, videos, and more for families to do with their children. 
• CDC’s Immunization Schedule with Milestones: A document parents can use to keep track of their child’s immunizations, developmental milestones, and physical growth.
• AAP’s Physical Developmental Delay Online Tool: Helps parents and providers determine if a child has physical developmental delays.
• Reach Out and Read: Free reading resources for families including e-books, games, and activities. Resources cover topics such as coping with stress, having difficult conversations, diversifying your library, and wellness.
• Baby Navigator: Research-based resources that maximize the role of the family and help families support their child's development and access to intervention services sooner.