The Morrow County Board of Developmental Disabilities (MCBDD) provides service coordination to families eligible for Help Me Grow Part C and at-risk services in collaboration with the Morrow County Health Department.  The MCBDD’s credentialed Help Me Grow service coordinator works year-round to complete these components for the Help Me Grow program with support from the Morrow County Job and Family Services, the Morrow County Health Department and the Family and Children First Council.

Outreach/child-find/intake/procedural safeguards: County Board staff participates with the Health Department in outreach and child-find activities throughout the year.  The Help Me Grow service coordinator directs any intake referrals to Central Intake at the Health Department and ensures that families receive information regarding procedural safeguards at every Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP) update in compliance with both Ohio Department of Health and Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD) requirements.

Prenatal visits:  If assigned a prenatal referral, the Help Me Grow service coordinator will complete prenatal home visits and will assist the family to access needed resources.

New born home visits:  The Help Me Grow service coordinator is available for consultation but does not actively participate with the Health Department nurse.

Ongoing home visiting services:  The family chooses how often and where they would like the service coordinator to meet with their family.  The Help Me Grow service coordinator utilizes Partners in Parenting Education (PIPE) and Hawaii Early Learning Profile (HELP) curriculum to educate parents regarding their child’s development during these ongoing home visits.

Service coordination, IFSP development, implementation and review:  The Help Me Grow service coordinator supports and assists families by teaching skills (such as advocacy, parenting and budgeting), coordinating access to community resources of the family’s choice including doctors and therapy services, and coordinating access to funding (including Early Intervention System of Payment).  The service coordinator assists the family to choose what goals are included in their child’s plan at each stage of its development.

Family Support Services:  As part of the intake process, the Help Me Grow service coordinator refers all families to the Health Department’s service and support specialist.  The service coordinator also participates in all scheduled family activities (monthly).

Evaluations to determine eligibility and ongoing assessment:  The Help Me Grow service coordinator completes hearing questionnaires and nutrition, vision, developmental and social-emotional screenings as part of the evaluation and ongoing assessment for each child as assigned.  These screenings may be completed one time only or as frequently as every two to six months depending on the needs of the child.  While the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, used to determine Part C eligibility is completed by certified health department staff, the MCBDD service coordinator is present for the evaluation to assist the family as needed.

Specialized services in everyday routines, activities and places:  The Help Me Grow service coordinator assists families to access therapy services available within the community.