The Delaware Early Childhood Screening Initiative: Raising the Bar

Abstract

Background: In 2011, Delaware’s medical societies and other organizations discovered enrollment in Early Intervention (EI) was 49th among the 50 United States. Delaware’s young children were unlikely to receive the benefits of EI known to improve short- and long-term child/family outcomes. Minimal use of accurate screens for mental health/behavioral and developmental delays (MBDD) within primary care clinics was the most apparent reason for the low ranking. Description: Various professional groups effected legislative funding for freely accessible MBDD screening via a web-based screening service, PEDS Online. Delaware Division of Public Health was designated …