Programs Offered
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects individuals with disabilities and requires that every effort be made to reasonably accommodate disabilities. Child care providers are expected to modify their basic policies, practices and procedures to make reasonable accommodation to include children with disabilities in their programs. In most cases, such accommodation is compatible with a safe and healthy environment from which all the children in the child care setting can benefit.
​
Child care providers must offer services in the most natural setting appropriate to the needs of the individual. In addition to making physical changes such as installing ramps, wide doors and restrooms that can accommodate children in wheelchairs, you may need to provide for a child’s special physical, emotional or psychological needs. Other special needs may include assistance in feeding, following special dietary requirements, giving medicines and/or performing medical procedures, and ensuring that special equipment is functional or is used properly. There is help available through many different programs to assist providers in properly caring for children with special needs.
​
Before admitting a child with developmental disabilities to Growing Together Child Care, the following questions need to be considered and answered:
​
-
Does the child’s disability require more care than Growing Together Child Care is reasonably able to provide?
-
Does provider have the skills and abilities needed to perform medical or other duties required for the child’s care, or can the necessary skills be readily acquire?
-
Is Growing Together Child Care equipped to meet the health and safety needs of this child?
-
Is the extra time the provider will need to devote to taking care of this child more than can be handled without putting the other children in care at increased risk for illness or injury, or without causing neglect of their needs?
​
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that as a provider responsible for all the children in care, I need to ensure that the extra demands on time to care for a child with special needs are supported with additional resources, including help from experts. There will also need to be a strong working relationship with the child’s parents/legal guardians.
Child Development Screening
Help Me Grow (HMG) Maine is a free service available to children up to eight years of age and their families. Help Me Grow Maine connects individuals and families to information and services about child development and community resources. Any parent, caregiver, or provider can call for support and the HMG team will listen, link a person/family to services, and supply ongoing support when needed.
AccessMaine is an online resource guide with information to connect people living in Maine to public programs, services, and other resources that are available to provide support they need to be safe, happy, healthy, and successful. To search for support programs on the AccessMaine, click on a category or type in the search feature.
Child Development Services (CDS) provides both Early Intervention (birth through two years) and Free Appropriate Public Education (for ages three through five years) under the supervision of the Maine Department of Education. The CDS system ensures the provision of special education rules, federal and state regulations statewide, through a network of regional sites.
​
-
Regional CDS sites provide case management and direct instruction for families with children from birth through age five.
-
Each site conducts Child Find, which is the process of identifying children with disabilities.
-
Screenings and evaluations are provided in order to identify children who are eligible for services.
-
Regional CDS sites arrange for local services that include early intervention and special education and related services for eligible child from birth to age five and their families.
CDS Referrals
The earlier the intervention the better for the child. Discussing the need for evaluation around concerns in regards to a child’s development can be a hard conversation. The hope at Growing Together Child Care is that our honest communication and the team we have built together will support us as we work through what is best for the child. The free evaluation CDS provides can ultimately bring peace of mind – the evaluation team might conclude that the child does not have a disability, or if they do, that the needed help is readily available.
Child Development Services accepts referrals online, by phone or by fax.
-
Online Child Find Intake Submission Form. Please use this form to submit referrals online only.
-
By fax to 207-624-6661. You must include the Child Find Intake Form. Download as a fillable PDF.
-
By phone. Call us at 877-770-8883.
-
​
The following information is required when referring a child to CDS:
-
the child’s name,
-
date of birth,
-
physical address,
-
with whom the child lives,
-
the area(s) of concern and any diagnosed conditions,
-
the parent(s) or guardian(s) name(s),
-
mailing address and phone numbers,
-
the referral source’s name and contact information.
-
If known, the child’s primary healthcare provider and any other agencies working with the child and/or family should be noted.
Within three business days of receiving the referral, a representative from the CDS regional site serving the town in which the child resides will contact the parent/guardian to gather more information and discuss the concerns, provide information about CDS and determine the family’s interest in scheduling any screenings or evaluations to determine if the child is eligible for services.
​
Request for CDS to share child records
​
CDS applies the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) regarding confidentiality of child records and may not share information without written permission from the parent or guardian. As a referral source, if you would like CDS to share information with you regarding your referral, please complete the Authorization to Request and/or Share Information and Records (PDF, 73KB). This form must be signed by the parent or guardian and included with the referral.
​
IFSP / IEP​: In an effort to continue to provide support for families GTCC is willing to be part of the educational team it appropriate for individualized Family Support Plans (IFSP) and/or Individualized Education Plans (IEP). GTCC is also willing to have outside services delivered by specialists in accordance to any IFSP or IEP done during GTCC normal business hours to best meet the needs of the child. For services provided on site, GTCC will share any materials left by the specialist. GTCC is also open to receiving support from specialists to adapt learning opportunities offered as part of our daily planning.
​
“Child Find” is an important part of Early Invention. The simple explanation to the question “what is Child Find?” is: “Child Find” is mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), to continuously search for and evaluate children who may have a disability. The primary purpose of IDEA is to ensure that all children with a disability, birth through age 21, receive free appropriate education, including special education and related services that meet their unique needs preparing them for further education, employment and independent living. Another purpose is to help states implement a statewide, comprehensive, coordinated multi-disciplinary system of Early Intervention services for young children with disabilities.