Parent-Infant Education Program

Any resident of Goochland or Powhatan county who has not yet turned 3 years old is eligible to receive a free developmental screening without a formal referral from a doctor. 

Screenings evaluate a child’s development in the areas of communication (speaking and listening skills), movement (rolling, sitting, crawling, walking, running, as well as hand skills), feeding skills, social-emotional skills and behavior, self-help skills, and learning/play skills. We evaluate whether the child is on target with their peers as well as if their skills are typical in quality.

Screenings are done in the home or some other place the child is comfortable whenever possible. Skills are evaluated through play as well as parent/caregiver interview and review of medical records. This information is used to determine if a child meets the eligibility requirements for Virginia early intervention services. 

The three ways to be found eligible are;
   Significant delay in any developmental area (at least 25% behind same aged peers)
   Atypical quality of developmental skills
   Diagnosed medical condition likely to contribute to future developmental delay

In addition to developmental screenings, children meeting the eligibility requirements for early intervention in Virginia may be offered any of the following services:

*Every family is assigned a service coordinator to help them navigate their child’s services and communicate with physicians and insurance.

These services can be billed to most insurance plans, and some (like Medicaid) cover the services at 100%. All families are offered the option to complete a Family Cost Share Agreement as a way to cap monthly costs at a certain amount dependent on family size and income. Using this, many families without Medicaid still receive services for free or at a greatly reduced rate.

We try to connect families with their community as much as possible, including helping problem solve outings like trips to the grocery store and connecting families with programs like library story time. Our services are always in a child’s natural environment, which includes the home as well as the community, so it’s possible for visits to take place at the park, the library, the daycare, the store, the doctor’s office, or any place else the family wants the child to go.

We also offer transition services for when children are aging out of our program. Since children can only receive our services until they’re about to turn 3, we spend the year prior preparing for the transition out of early intervention into whatever comes next. We help families connect to preschools, Head Start, and Early Childhood Special Education, based on what’s appropriate for the child. 

We also connect families with graduates from previous years to serve as mentors and have a parent representative on our Interagency Coordinating Council (ICC). The ICC is a connection between the local agencies servicing young children and their families in Goochland and Powhatan, including our program, the public schools, the health department, social services, other departments within the community services board, the Smart Beginnings program, and our local libraries.

The first step to starting with our program is a referral – but this doesn’t need to be from a medical professional. Anyone can refer a child, including parents, relatives, and daycare teachers. All anyone needs to do is contact us and answer a few questions. The easiest way to do this is to call Jeanine Vassar at 804-657-2010 and leave a message on the secure voicemail.

Referrals can also be received by fax to 804-556-9165 or emailed to jvassar@goochlandva.us
Referrals must include the child’s name, date of birth, address (somewhere in Goochland or Powhatan counties), and some method of contacting the primary caregiver.

If you are unsure about making a referral, anyone can call/email Jeanine Vassar to ask questions without committing to joining our program. Also, our program is entirely voluntary, so even making a referral is not a commitment to recommended services.