Infants & Toddlers Program
To make an online referral: Click Here
For more information or to make a referral, call (410) 996-5444
What is the Infants and Toddlers Program?
The Infants and Toddlers program is an interagency program providing early intervention services to eligible children from birth to age 3 and their families. This program focuses on Early Childhood Outcomes:
- building positive social relationships
- acquiring and using knowledge and skills to participate in activities
- using appropriate behaviors to meet needs leading to increased independence
The Child Outcomes Summary process requires a comparison of the child’s daily functioning with the expected skills and behaviors of children their same age.
What happens after I make a referral?
After referring your child, you will be contacted by a service coordinator to schedule an evaluation at your home to determine eligibility for early intervention services. If eligible, a Routines-Based Interview will be scheduled within 45 days of your initial phone call. This interview will be approximately two-hours and will help turn your concerns and priorities into real-life, functional outcomes that you can work on throughout your everyday activities. An Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP) will be developed to document these outcomes if eligible.
Who is eligible?
Children are eligible if they are under three years of age and:
- Are experiencing a 25% delay in one or more developmental areas, or
- Have a diagnosed condition that has a high probability of resulting in delay, or
- Are displaying atypical development that is likely to result in delay.
What are the services?
Services are available at no cost to families. Early intervention services are designed to provide family support to enhance a child’s potential as they grow and develop new skills. A few examples of early intervention services include:
- Assistive Technology
- Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services
- Family Counseling & Training
- Nursing
- Occupational Therapy
- Physical Therapy
- Psychological Services
- Special Instruction
- Speech/Language Therapy
- Vision Services
- Other services may be available as appropriate
Where are services provided?
The services are provided during a weekday in the child’s natural environment, such as your home, child care, playgroup, shopping trip, local park, and/or any community setting your family would like to attend.
Who will provide the services?
The Infants and Toddlers team will select a primary provider based upon each family’s individual needs. The primary provider will engage in collaborative consultation with all team members between visits in order to provide the family with strategies that best support their needs.
What to expect during a visit:
The primary provider will use a coaching model as an approach to build caregiver confidence in supporting their child to develop new skills. We want to know what families have tried, what works, and what the family wants to change. The primary provider will observe families and children play and interact in their daily routines. We will practice new ideas together, and at the end of each session we will come up with a joint plan, identifying what strategies the family will practice between visits in order to continue working on outcomes within the family’s daily routines.
Do you need to reach your Service Coordinator or Primary Service Provider? Click here for a list of program staff.
Program Resources
- Brochure
- Brochure - Spanish
- Coaching in Early Intervention
- Primary Service Provider Handout
- Pyramid Model Handout
- State Performance Data
Infants and Toddlers Local Interagency Coordinating Council
October 24, 2024
December 12, 2024
February 7, 2025
May 1, 2025
All meetings will be held virtually. Please contact Jennifer Ayers if you would like to join.
- CDC Milestones in Action
- Maryland State Department Technical Assistance Bulletins
- Maryland Pyramid Model
Maryland Infants and Toddlers Program Parent Information Series
- Family Guide to Early Intervention Services in Maryland | Spanish
- Family Guide to Maryland's Parental Rights/Procedural Safeguards Notice | Spanish
- Family Guide to Understanding the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) | Spanish
- Family Guide to Next Steps When Your Child In Early Intervention Turns 3 | Spanish