Help Me Grow/Build Up MI Pilot Project Details

Clinton County Regional Educational Service Agency Office of Innovative Projects (CCRESA OIP), in partnership with Help Me Grow Michigan (HMG MI), is in the first phase of pilot implementation with 9 ISDs across Michigan. We anticipate that outreach for Cohort 2 will begin in November 2024, with the projected timeline of onboarding Cohort 2 of pilot ISDs in January 2025.

COHORT One Pilot ISDs:

  • Ingham

  • Iosco

  • Kalamazoo

  • Livingston

  • Berrien

  • Calhoun

  • Copper Country

  • Delta-Schoolcraft

  • Eaton

Background

The pilot is funded through the Michigan Department of Education’s Office of Special Education. Its purpose is to support early and appropriate identification of children ages 3-5  who would benefit from special education services by (1) starting or expanding the use of developmental screening through the online Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ)  in counties where universal screening is not currently offered, and (2) providing follow-up screening interpretation and care coordination services for families. 

There is no funding associated with this pilot, but several benefits are offered to pilot participants:

  •  Access to  free developmental screenings for children from birth through age five, with follow-up

  • A trained care coordinator to support families with accessing early childhood services, addressing developmental concerns, and answering general parenting questions and/or other concerns

  • Access to the miearlychildhood.org platform for centralized intake of Build Up Inquires as well as care coordinators to field these inquiries and follow up if ineligible for services (the same statewide platform for Early On referrals through 1800earlyon.org)

  • Marketing support for ASQ, Build Up, and HMG services

  • Support in implementing HMG locally

This pilot brings the systems-level support of HMG to your community and provides the care coordination families need to navigate Michigan’s mixed-delivery system by enhancing and supporting existing infrastructure and working alongside your community’s early childhood programs. As part of this pilot, each community will become a HMG affiliate and commit to working toward the four components of HMG:

Centralized Access Point

In partnership with CCRESA OIP, HMG will provide affiliates the centralized access point, care coordination and navigation for this aspect of the project. This central access point is available to families and professionals in your community to support the growth and development of children birth through age 5. 

Family and community outreach

HMG affiliates will receive technical assistance and support for working with their Great Start Collaboratives to strengthen support for families, including increasing parent and provider understanding of healthy child development and increasing supportive services available to families in the community. 

Child health Provider outreach

HMG MI  will work with local communities to engage child health providers in using and interpreting ASQ results and making appropriate referrals.

Data collection and Analysis

HMG MI  will work with affiliates by collecting and reporting on data supporting system evaluation and quality improvement

there is no cost associated with becoming a HMG Affiliate

We are looking for communities that:

  • Have been hoping  to  implement care coordination but haven’t had the funds to do so

  • Would like to be able to offer universal ASQs to your county’s families

  • Have a low preschool special education identification rate 

Key Project Partners:

The success of this pilot is heavily dependent on collaboration and should include partners from across a range of early childhood stakeholders in your community like the local health department, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services local offices, Great Start to Quality Regional Resource Centers and others. In particular there are three key project partners who need to be on board in order to apply: 

  • Great Start Collaborative Lead: One of the core components of the HMG  model is Family and Community outreach, which the Great Start Collaboratives have already been tasked with. Therefore, any system wide effort to engage early childhood partners should include the support of the Great Start Collaborative. 

  • Early Childhood Special Education Lead: The Early Childhood Special Education Lead must commit to utilizing the provided miearlychildhood.org intake system for receiving referrals and inquiries and updating the results of the inquiries so that we can see whether each child was eligible or ineligible.

  • ISD Early Childhood Lead: This pilot opportunity is specifically for ISDs, so the Early Childhood lead must be on board, even if the lead for the pilot is someone else. 

Eligibility Criteria:

  • ISDs are eligible to apply

  • Brief descriptions of commitment are required for this project from key project partners

  • ISD Preschool special education identification rates will be a consideration 

Additional Information:

Questions? Reach out to Courtney Gupta cgupta@ccresa.org and Christy Callahan callahan_c@ccresa.org

+ help me grow michigan will Provide Pilot sites with:

CARE COORDINATION

  • A person to talk to about early childhood needs including:

    • Developmental Questions
    • Behavior Concerns
    • Home visiting
    • Preschool
    • Child Care
    • Basic Needs
    • Local Activities

  • Referrals to the identified point person for each category above -- If a point person doesn’t exist, HMG MI will help you build this into your system.

  • Follow-up for every family handled by care coordinator
  • Documentation of barriers/gaps in service for your community
  • Add to or develop a resource directory for your community

The Care Coordinator will work closely with each pilot community to understand what resources exist and how to refer families.

DEVELOPMENTAL SCREENING

  • Free, online, universal access to the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) for all families in your community
  • Follow-up for every family who completes an ASQ including:
    • Referrals to Early On and inquiries to Build Up, as needed
    • Developmental Activities
    • Rescreen reminders
    • Options for connecting with other families and programs within your community
  • Pilot Communities will have access to their developmental screening data

BUILD UP MICHIGAN SERVICES

  • Access to the MiEarlyChildhood.org online platform for Build Up Michigan inquiries
  • Care coordination to:
    • Respond to inquiries and initiate an ASQ screening
    • Review ASQ results and begin special education referral within Build Up Central intake (if warranted)
    • Follow up with family to ensure they are connected to special education evaluation
    • If found ineligible for special education, record barriers and offer continued developmental monitoring and other local resource including story times and preschool
  • Support in thinking through how to make this as seamless as possible in your community

MARKETING SUPPORT

  • Marketing materials for families and early childhood partners in your community that highlight universal screening, Build Up Intake, and care coordination services

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT FROM HELP ME GROW MICHIGAN

  • Connection to a statewide peer network
  • Training and technical support from the HMG Team

+ Pilot communities will commit to:

  • Become a Help Me Grow affiliate (there is no cost associated with this)
  • Ensure key partner and community buy-in before submitting application
  • Designate a Pilot/Help Me Grow Lead
  • The Build Up Coordinator, or LEAs, agree to update the Build Up Inquiry in the system as eligible or ineligible
  • Identify local points of contact to work with the care coordinator to develop resources in each of areas listed above in the Care Coordination section
  • Work with HMG team toward accomplishing the four components of HMG
  • Complete the annual HMG fidelity assessment with support from HMG MI
  • Participate in required learning opportunities, including, but not limited to, ASQ and Build Up Intake System training
  • Report on required data points from OIP–including, but not limited to, how many of our Build Up inquiries resulted in eligibility

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