State Office—

• The State Early Steps Office Family Satisfaction Surveys were mailed this fall to families who exited from Early Steps services between April 1, 2006, and June 30, 2006. Due to an error in printing mailing labels, the survey will have to be sent again with corrected mailing address labels.
• The State Early Steps Office is reviewing our local documentation forms to determine if we can continue using these forms instead of implementing the mandated State Documentation Forms for travel and consultation services.
• The new Service Taxonomy Reimbursement Rates went into effect July 1, 2006; however, the new service codes will not be fully implemented until the State Data System can be converted to accommodate the new five digit codes.
• The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) required the adoption and use of a standard unique identifier for health care providers. Te National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) collects identifying information on health care providers and assigns each a unique National Provider Identifier (NPI). The use of the NPI will be required for all health care providers submitting electronic transactions beginning May 23, 2007. The State Early Steps Office will require these numbers for providers enrolling beginning April 15, 2007. Anapplication for an NPI may be submitted online at: https://nppes.cms.hhs.gov/NPPES/StaticForward.do?forward=static.npistart.
• The new State Early Steps Brochure is now available for distribution as part of the Public Awareness effort. Copies of the brochure are available at the Local Early Steps Office.
• Local Early Steps service providers and the local office can now Post Position Openings on the State Early Steps Website at http://www.cms-kids.com/EarlySteps/ESJobListings.htm. There is a link at the end of the listings for posting job positions. For additional information or help with posting job openings, contact the Local Early Steps Office.
• The State Early Steps Office will be conducting a pilot project to implement the child Outcomes Measurement mandated by OSEP. Entrance and exit data will be collected on children using the Battelle Developmental Inventory-2 (BDI-2). The pilot will implement entrance testing for selected Local Early Steps Programs and their partnering Local Education Agency or School District ESE. The Western Panhandle ( Pensacola) Early Steps and Escambia County School District will be participating in this pilot. Training on the BDI-2 for school district staff and Early Steps providers is scheduled to be conducted in February 2007.
• A DOE/DOH Joint Technical Assistance Paper for Transition has been developed to serve as a framework for implementing federal and state requirements for transitioning children from Part C (Early Steps) to Part B (ESE Pre-K) services. Highlights of the paper were presented at the Early Steps Fall Statewide meeting in October 2006. Additional instructions and resources for implementing the transition guidelines will be provided by the state.

Local Office—

• The Local Early Steps Office has an Assistive Technology Resource Library consisting of items that can be used with families to conduct strategies from the Individualized Family Support Plan or Plan of Care in the home or community setting. There is a request form that is to be completed by the child’s team to obtain any of the available resources. For information on items that are available or the process to obtain items, contact the child’s Service Coordinator.
• Local Exit Surveys are being conducted by our Family Resource Specialists to obtain information from families on the effectiveness of our services. A report is provided monthly to the Local Early Steps Office to use for program evaluation and improvement. Feedback is given to service providers of any concerns identified.
• The Professional Development Partnership (PDP) at UWF is providing a Parent Bulletin Board on the PDP Website. The bulletin board is operated for families by the Family Resource Specialists.
• Provider Bookmarks developed locally for recruiting and enrolling service providers are being reviewed by the State Early Steps Office for approval.
• Referral Bookmarks have been developed locally to be used as a Public Awareness tool to educate the community on how to refer children for Early Steps services.
• Infant Toddler Developmental Specialists (ITDS) are to enroll in Medicaid. An ITDS who was enrolled prior to July 1, 2006, must complete the State Early Steps on line ITDS Modules and submit their application to Medicaid by June 30, 2007. An ITDS enrolling after July 1, 2006, must complete the ITDS training to be offered by the University of West Florida beginning with the Spring term of 2007.