What is Early Start?
Early Start is California’s response to federal legislation ensuring that services to eligible infants and toddlers are coordinated and family-centered. It is a statewide system of early intervention services for infants and toddlers from birth to 36 months of age. This program is coordinated by regional centers and public school districts.
Who is eligible for Early Start?
- Children with a development delay of 25% in one or more of the following areas of development:
- Social — emotions, interacting with others
- Adaptive — daily activities such as eating and dressing
- Physical — large and small movements
- Expressive Communication — pre-speech and language
- Receptive Communication — pre-speech and language
- Cognitive — thinking and problem-solving
- Children with multiple medical factors that place them at risk for a developmental delay such as:
- Prematurity of < 32 weeks and/or low birth weight
- Prenatal substance exposure
- Or an infant or toddler born to a parent with a developmental disability
- Children born with a condition with a known probability of causing a disability or delay such as Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, or fetal alcohol syndrome.
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