Child and Family Connections Offices

  • For Early Intervention governance, history, procedural requirements and forms reference the Child and Family Connections Procedures Manual (click)
  • The Bureau of Early Intervention requires monthly expenditure information to be submitted for reimbursement using the Early Intervention Periodic Financial Report (EIPFR-CFC) and Instructions.  To request the grantee's tailored copy of the EIPFR-CFC submit request to DHS.EIFiscal@illinois.gov
  • The Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS), Division of Family and Community Services (FCS) awards grants to 25 Child and Family Connections (CFC) offices to serve as the point-of-entry for children and families into the Early Intervention (EI) Program. It is the policy of the State to enhance the development of all eligible infants and toddlers under three-years of age to minimize developmental delays and maximize individual potential for adult independence. The EI Program is a statewide program for the evaluation and assessment of infants and toddlers under three years of age and the provision of services for those who have a disability known to result in at least a 30 percent delay in development in one of the five developmental domains, including adaptive, cognitive, communication, physical, and social-emotional proven by testing with an approved tool, or who are at substantial risk of developmental delays based on certain at-risk factors.

Families access EI services through one of 25 CFC offices. These regional entities, within defined geographic areas, implement comprehensive, coordinated interdisciplinary, interagency, EI system for all eligible birth to three infants and toddlers in accordance with all relevant statutes, rules, program standards found in the CFC Procedure Manual.  IDHS is required to ensure the designation of regional intake points to accomplish consistent System intake and service coordination throughout the State.

The responsibilities of the CFC include, but are not limited to:

  • Select, train, and supervise qualified staff to carry out the following tasks within the System's specified time frames. CFC-employed Service coordinators and parent liaisons will complete required training within 90 days of receiving their temporary credentials.
  • Receive referrals from primary referral sources and contact the family within two business days after the date that the referral is received to schedule an intake meeting with the family.
  • Contact families in their native language or, with respect to an individual who is deaf or hard of hearing, blind or visually impaired, or for an individual with no written language, using the means of communication that is normally used by that individual.
  • Provide service coordination activities, including the following:
    • Conduct intake meetings, which are the process of meeting face-to-face with the family to explain what EI is and to complete all initial steps required prior to beginning evaluations and/or assessments;
    • Assist the family of infants and toddlers with developmental delays or disabilities in obtaining access to needed EI services and other services identified in the Individualized Family Serve Plan (IFSP), including making referrals to EI providers for needed services and scheduling appointments for infants and toddlers and their families;
    • Coordinate the provision of EI services and other services (such as educational, social, and medical services that are not provided for diagnostic or evaluative purposes) that the child needs or is being provided;
    • Coordinate evaluations to determine if the child is eligible for EI services and assessments to identify the child's unique strengths and needs and the EI service appropriate to meet those needs. Evaluations and/or assessments of five developmental domains are required to determine the child's level of functioning and/or unique strengths and needs in each domain prior to writing the initial IFSP;
    • Facilitate and participate in the development, review, and evaluation of IFSPs, including facilitating the development of the initial IFSP within 45 days after the initial date of referral and distributing copies of the IFSP to the family, EI providers and other entities identified in the IFSP as soon as possible and no than 15 business days after the IFSP meeting;
    • Conduct referral and other activities to assist families in identifying available EI providers;
    • Coordinate, facilitate, and monitor the delivery of EI services to ensure that the services are provided in a timely manner;
    • Conduct follow-up activities to determine that appropriate EI services are being provided. Communicate monthly with the family using a variety of face-to-face, telephone, written correspondence, and other methods, including team meetings, to ensure that the family is well informed and functioning as an active participant in the implementation of the IFSP and to monitor the provision of needed evaluations/assessments and services;
    • Inform families of their rights and procedural safeguards and available advocacy services;
    • Coordinate the funding sources for services required under this part;
    • Facilitate the development of a transition plan to preschool, school, or, if appropriate, other services; and
    • Inform families of the availability of advocacy services.
  • Establish/maintain Local Interagency Councils (LIC), who will assist in the development of local needs assessments and planning efforts; identify and resolve local access issues; conduct collaborative child find activities; coordinate public awareness initiatives; coordinate local planning and evaluation; assist in the recruitment of specialty personnel; develop plans for facilitating transition and integration of eligible children and families into the community; and facilitate conflict resolution at the local level. Members of each LIC shall include, but not be limited to the following: parents; representatives from coordination and advocacy service providers; local education agencies; other local public and private service providers; representatives from State agencies at the local level; any others deemed necessary by the local council. CFC offices must identify a LIC coordinator(s) responsible for ensuring that each LIC is established and maintained.
  • Provide staff to serve as the parent liaison to perform activities that include development and provision of direct support services to families and provision of consultation/resources to team members and other service providers regarding family perspectives on practices and policies for services and System development. CFC offices must have a credentialed parented liaison(s) on staff to ensure that parent liaison activities are provided.
  • Provide Social Emotional (SE) components that include, at a minimum, a SE consultant, relationship-based training in EI, reflective consultation for the CFC manager, integrated assessment and intervention planning, case consultation, SE consultant network, and parent-to-parent grants. CFC offices must have a SE consultant(s) to support these services.
  • Contract for developmental pediatric consultation services to ensure quality assurance activities such as periodic (as needed) participation in IFSP meetings, consultation on requests for IFSP service changes, technical assistance and training to EI providers to address local and system needs and Service Coordinator training tailored to needs identified pursuant to reviews or by the CFC Manager, and assist CFC offices with Child Find with the medical community.  Developmental pediatric professions include Pediatricians, Nurse Practitioners, Developmental Pediatricians, or EI Therapists with strong developmental background that can provide a global perspective.  The developmental pediatric consultant role also provides other quality assurances activities including:
    • On request by the CFC or through period involvement, review medical records, which may provide an explanation for a child's problems and thus avoid unnecessary medical diagnostic evaluations.
    • Review evaluations/assessments and listen to the Service Coordinator's discussions of their observations of the child in order to assist in identifying signs of PDD, Autism, Verbal and Motor Apraxia, Sensory Regulatory Disorder or other diagnoses that have not been previously addressed in either evaluation/assessment or treatment activities.
    • Discuss the specific medical diagnosis with the Service Coordinator and the impact that a disease or syndrome may have on a child and family. Make suggestions for a better approach to the family.
    • Assist with post-IFSP development for consistency with principles and best practices and the expressed EI philosophy, principles, best practices, and procedures.
  • Comply with public and private insurance and family fee policies and procedures as set by IDHS.
  • Participate in public awareness and child find activities by disseminating information to primary referral sources and working with LICs.
  • Maintain a directory of non-EI financial resources and support services for use with families. The CFC shall assist families in accessing non-EI financial resources and support services by making appropriate referrals while the child is enrolled with the EI Services System and at transition. Children found ineligible should be offered referrals for non-EI community resources prior to case closure.
  • Facilitate IFSP team discussions for every child to determine his/her status relative to each of the Office of Special Education Program's (OSEP) identified child outcomes and document the ratings in the statewide data system.
  • Monitor that the Part C funds are the "payor of last resort" to the extent allowed by law. This includes assistance in accessing resource supports, including but not limited to the Division of Specialized Care for Children (DSCC) (Title V), and with the parent's or guardian's informed consent, Medicaid (Title XIX), the State Child Health Insurance Program (Title XXI), and private insurance.
  • Enroll, if they wish, as an "All Kids agent" in order to complete the All Kids application as authorized under the Children's Health Insurance Program Act.
  • Develop, maintain and process the permanent EI case record in accordance with policies set forth by IDHS.
  • Maintain administrative and programmatic contact with all EI providers in the service area.
  • Participate in routine monitoring and technical assistance activities as required by IDHS, including on-site monitoring, data collection and reporting obligations, record reviews, financial audits, complaint investigations, and consumer satisfaction surveys.
  • Designate a CFC program manager who is employed by the CFC. The CFC program manager will be responsible for hiring all Service Coordinators. All Service Coordination activities will be the responsibility of the CFC and cannot be subcontracted to another entity.
  • Maintain a toll free number and high-speed Internet access.
  • Purchase/maintain required equipment based upon IDHS specifications.
  • Provide an annual budget in the format and timeline required by the Department.
  • Comply with the Child and Family Connections Procedure Manual (including CFC Support Services, Recordkeeping, Disputes, Referrals to CFCs, Intake, Eligibility Determination, Public and Private Insurance Use Determination, Family Participation Fees, IFSP, Transition, and Transfer and Case Closure)
  • Participate in training sessions, as required by IDHS.
  • Comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), specifically the Security Rule and the HIPAA Transactions and Code Sets Rule, and the regulations promulgated thereunder.
  • Comply with confidentiality of EI Records pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section 617(c) and 642, as amended, 20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq., and Part C regulations in 34 CFR 303.401-303.417, all in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) 20 U.S.C. 1232g and 34 CFR Part 99.
  • Understand that non-DHS-provided equipment is the sole responsibility of the site.
  • Report interruption of communication and/or connectivity within 24 hours to the agency's ISP and the Cornerstone Service Desk.
  • Maintain appropriate use of Cornerstone to be approved by an appropriate section manager responsible for Cornerstone security management within the Cornerstone agency, by restricting use to only authorized parties and in a manner consistent with the form of data classification.
  • Take reasonable action, due care, and due diligence to prevent inappropriate use, disclosure, destruction or theft of Cornerstone-designated IT resources. Reasonable actions include but are not limited to prevention, detective and corrective measures such as encryption, anti-viral software and application of security patches.
  • Agree to act in accordance with all state and federal statutes, guidelines, procedures, rules, regulations, and executive orders applicable to the provision of services.