Infant & Toddler

Connection of Virginia

February 2023 Update

Tiny handmade red caps are transforming babies into petite ambassadors

for a good cause all this month.

Friday, February 3, 2023 is National Wear Red Day and many infants born across the U.S. in February — designated as American Heart Month — will receive the cute accessories as part of the "Little Hats, Big Hearts" project, which draws attention to heart disease.

The program raises awareness about heart disease, the No. 1 killer of Americans and the No. 1 type of birth defect. Some 40,000 babies are born with congenital heart defects in the country each year, or almost 1 percent of U.S. births, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Congenital heart defects are a leading cause of illness and death among infants with birth defects, though many affected babies are now living longer and healthier lives, the CDC noted.

TRAC-IT NEWS

NEED TO KNOWS

To update your discipline-specific license expiration date in TRAC-IT:



1. Under User Management, click My Information. Your account information will become visible.
2. Under your name, click Update User and the fields will become editable
3. Scroll until you view your certifications. For the certification with the expiring license, click on the certification row or the blue arrow. A pop-up window with the certification information will appear
4. Click edit and some of the fields are editable.
5. Scroll to the Qualifications and click on the row or the blue arrow of the expiring license information. A pop up window will appear with the qualifications.
6. Click edit and you can edit the expiration date
7. CLICK SAVE after updating the expiration date
8. CLICK SAVE at each pop-up window – Qualifications, Certifications, your main account page

As a reminder, resources are available to support the new insurance workflow:

• A 17-minute video demonstration of the new process is available on our website.
• The new flow is available in the Sandbox for practice.
• An updated TRAC-IT user manual and a new Quick Reference Card for the insurance workflow are posted in the Help links in TRAC-IT.

TRAC-IT SUPPORT:

• EMAIL: VATRACITsupport@ssg-llc.com
• PHONE: (804) 508-7229

FAMILY SURVEY

Timelines for conducting the 2023 family survey are as follows: 

Data submitted to ODU - 2/15 

The Part C office will run the report from TRAC-IT and send it to ODU securely so they can begin the survey process. 

Flyers begin mailing - 3/1 

Samples for the fliers, survey and cover letter can be found on our website on this page https://www.itcva.online/itcva-resource-library under Family Survey 

Wave 1 begin mailing - 3/29-4/5 

For families who have included their email address, the survey will be emailed directly to them. For the rest of the families the survey will be mailed to the address supplied.  Languages included in this years survey include Arabic, Mandarin, Farsi, Korean, Urdu and Vietnamese languages. 

Wave 2 begin mailing - 4/19-4/23 

Families who did not respond to the first round of surveys will receive a second copy of the survey to increase the overall response rate. 

Calls begin to localities with less than 15 completes - 5/14-5/21 

These calls are intended to increase each systems survey response to have a representative sample.

SUPPORTING SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL SKILLS

New SSIP Workgroups

The SSIP workgroup for Broad Improvement Strategies 1 and 2 met on January 25th to continue our discussion of social-emotional screening and assessment tools. The notes for the meeting can be found on our website at State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP) — Infant & Toddler Connection of Virginia (itcva.online)

Three new workgroups have been formed. These groups will begin meeting in the next few months and focus on SSIP steps that will addressed over the next year.  

• Explore screening or assessing for other factors that impact infants’ and toddlers’ social-emotional development, such as parental depression, anxiety, trauma, parent-child interaction, attachment and temperament
• Develop an implementation plan including professional development activities and resources needed to support use of the Pyramid Model in the Infant & Toddler Connection of Virginia
• Build reflective supervision capacity to support all providers

Fostering Social Emotional Literacy in Young Children

The more our Early Intervention and Educational systems intersect with Neuroscience the more we understand how critically important social and emotional development is for our youngest children. As practitioners and early interventionists, we recognize that supporting parents in understanding the importance of social emotional development, while sharing practical strategies to build social emotional skills will allow their child to; regulate their emotional states appropriately, build relationships, learn to problem solve, gain confidence, as well as manage stress and anxiety. Children and families who are eligible for early intervention services or are already receiving services often enroll in the program with both complex needs and stress. How are we to understand the best mechanisms for meeting their needs and supporting their child? Learn More and See Recommended Resources

PROFFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

A GEM YOU MIGHT

HAVE FORGOTTEN



Talks on Tuesday - Teaming with Purpose: Overcoming Challenges with EI Colleagues PART I

WHAT DID

YOU MISS?

Developmental Services in Early Intervention –

 Info Sheet

(ITC of Fairfax-Falls Church & VEIPD)

WHAT'S COMING

UP NEXT?

Register Now for Talks on Tuesdays - We Matter Too: Self Care Strategies for All Practitioners

Spring 2023 Kaleidoscope: Save the Date



TRANSITION

Transition in Virginia:

Part C to Part B



Are you a new LSM, a new service coordinator or would you like to know more about collaborating with Part B to support transition? Join us for this upcoming webinar.

Considerations for a Smooth and Timely Transition from Part C to Part B – Webinar

This webinar, presented by the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and the Department of Education, will provide information about the transition from Early Intervention Services (Part C) to Early Childhood Special Education (Part B). The webinar will discuss regulations, decisions to be determined locally, program eligibility, as well as tips for how the two systems can collaborate to support families. This webinar will be recorded and shared with all registrants. ·

Webinar: Considerations for a Smooth and Timely Transition from

Part C to Part B

Date: March 9, 12:00 p.m.

Register

Need Staff Development on Transition? There’s a Path for That!

We know that coordinating transition can be challenging for EI staff, so we’ve developed a new Transition from Early Intervention Learning Path. Watch the pop-up recording to learn about the path and think about creative ways you can use it for staff development. The following resources will be highlighted:

Transition from Early Intervention Learning Path

• Module 2: Transition (Early Childhood Recommended Practices Module)
• Getting from Here to There: Navigating the Transition from Part C to Part B - Part I (VEIPD Archived Webinar)
• Transition from Part C to Part B Question and Answer Document (VA DOE and ITCVA)
• 4-part Series of Transition Tutorials (ITCVA)
• Transition Practice Guide and Performance Checklist (ECTA Center)
• Meaningful Inclusion in Early Childhood (Video, Wisconsin DPI)



Resource Pop-Up Handout: Transition from Early Intervention Staff Development Resources and Plan PDF

Transition from Early Intervention Services to Part B Preschool Special Education Checklist

This checklist includes practices to support the transition of toddlers from early intervention services into preschool or preschool special education services. The main focus of these practices is activities implemented in collaboration with family members and preschool program practitioners that promote positive relationships and child and family preparation and adjustment to new settings and services. The checklist indicators can be used to develop a transition plan to ensure a child’s and family’s smooth transition from early intervention to preschool. The checklist rating scale can be used for a self-evaluation to determine whether the transition practices were used prior to, during, and after the transition.  

RESOURCES

“Learn the Signs. Act Early” Update (February 2023)

If you have any questions about the CDC’s “Learn the Signs. Act Early” resources, please contact

Deana Buck,

Virginia’s Act Early Ambassador deanabuck@gmail.com

(804) 405-9064

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Local early intervention system managers (LSMs) or their designees, or directors of programs that contract with one or more local early intervention systems in Virginia, are invited to submit employment opportunities for posting.



• ITC Hampton-Newport News | Service Coordinator | Posted 2023-01-18 | LINK
• ITC Fairfax-Falls Church | Service Coordination Supervisor (Early Intervention Supervisor) | Posted 2023-01-10 | LINK
• ITC Rappahannock-Rapidan | Early Intervention Professional | Posted 2022-12-07 | PDF

For questions about certification of practitioners, contact David Mills • 804-317-7776

For questions related to completing the online application, contact VATRACITsupport@ssg-llc.com or from 8AM-5PM ET by calling 804-508-7229.

Infant & Toddler Connection of Virginia is part of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services

https://www.itcva.online/itcva-staff-1

1220 Bank Street, 9th Floor, P.O. Box 1797, Richmond, Virginia 23219-1797

Main Office: (804) 786-3710 • Main Fax: (804) 371-7959