Newsletter
First Steps... A New Beginnng
UCP of Greater St. Louis is honored and excited to announce a new and
expanded regional role in the intervention and training of children with disabilities.
UCP has won a three-year contract to become the First Steps System Point of Entry (SPOE). SPOE will respond to referrals of children, birth to thirty-six (36) months of age, which have developmental disabilities/delays and reside in St. Louis City or County.
First Steps is an interagency system of early intervention services, Missouri’s response to P.L. 105-17 of the “Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The goal of First Steps is to provide coordinated services for Missouri families at a time and location that is convenient to them, to the greatest extent possible. Participation in First Steps is voluntary. First Steps ensures the provision of selected early intervention services, based on the mutually identified special needs of each child and family. These services are to be provided in a prompt, professional, family-centered, equitable, consistent, culturally competent manner in a child’s natural environment.
First Steps intake services for families in our area have traditionally been provided through the St. Louis Regional Center or the Bureau of Special Health Care Needs. UCP was awarded this contract by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in May 2001.
Claire Brown, who previously ran UCP's Early Intervention Program, is the new Director for the St. Louis SPOE. Six new UCP employees will serve as Intake Coordinators. They will be responsible for coordinating and assisting with intake, First Steps eligibility determination, development of the initial Individual Family Service Plan, and providing information about community, state, and national resources.
The St. Louis SPOE will actually begin to provide intake coordination services on April 1, 2002. For more information, please call: (314) 993-3400.
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