Why Screen?

While it is important that pediatric primary health care providers conduct standardized developmental screening as a routine component of well child visits, “community child care providers also represent an untapped resource for standardized developmental screening that could improve early identification and referral of young children for developmental delays.”¹ Community child care providers and pediatric primary health care providers can work together to make sure that all children in Colorado are screened using a standardized developmental screening tool on a regular basis. Community child care settings are ideal locations for ongoing developmental screening and surveillance for several reasons:

Increasing numbers of children and toddlers spend time in community childcare settings. (Lombardi, 2003)
Childcare providers receive training in typical child development and are encouraged by their professional organization to screen child development. (NAEYC, 2003)
Childcare providers have multiple opportunities to monitor child development when a child is present in the daycare setting on a daily basis.
There is the possibility of establishing collaborative relationships among community childcare settings and early intervention and school district special education programs to identify and serve children with delays. (Miller, Mutton and Williams, 1993)
Childcare providers and pediatric primary health care providers can work together to reinforce consistent messaging to parents about their children’s development.²

Recommendations for Child Care Providers

To improve their ability to identify children at risk for developmental delays, child care providers should receive training in the following areas:

How to administer standardized developmental screening tools to children in their care.
How to recognize “red flags” that could lead to developmental delays in children.
How to talk to parents sensitively about developmental concerns and how to share information from developmental screening to educate parents about developmental milestones.
How to use developmental screening results to modify their curriculum and daily activities to practice developmental skills children are ready to learn next.³

^1,2,3 Source: Community Childcare Providers Role in the Early Detection of Autism Specturm Disorders: A Research Brief. Branson, Diane, M.A., Vigil, Debra C. Ph.D. University of Nevada, Reno

Contact the ABCD team to find out more about how to launch a standardized developmental screening program in your child care center and training opportunities that are available for Child Care Center staff members.