Amos Cottage Now a Children’s Developmental Services Agency
from Clinical Update, Summer 2004
Abstract: The CDSA at Amos Cottage will offer evaluation, treatment and care coordination for young children with developmental delays and other issues, who live in Forsyth, Davie, Davidson, Stokes, Surry and Yadkin counties. The program will absorb the more than 500 children in this area currently served by the state-supported Infant Toddler Early Intervention Program.
Due to a new state initiative, the Developmental Evaluation Clinic at Amos Cottage will become one of 18 Children’s Developmental Services Agencies (CDSA) in North Carolina on July 1. The change means that developmentally disabled or delayed children in Forsyth and neighboring counties can now receive up to 19 treatment services coordinated by the new CDSA, part of Brenner Children’s Hospital.
“Children up to age three can receive physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, counseling, audiology and a host of other services to help meet their needs,” said Donald Goldstein, Ph.D., director of the Developmental Evaluation Clinic. “This is a big change for the program, adding treatment and care coordination to assessment services. We plan to add 28 new staff members and develop collaborations with multiple providers in our service area.”
In the past, infants have come to the Developmental Evaluation Clinic at Amos Cottage to be evaluated for various disorders and developmental delays. If they were determined to be eligible for early intervention, they were referred to other agencies in their home counties. Often, parents worked with multiple providers and, in some cases, multiple counties. Now, children can receive the needed services through the CDSA or continue to select from a variety of providers in their home counties. A service coordinator will be assigned to each child to assist the family in identifying the child’s needs and help schedule appointments and assist with transportation. The CDSA at Amos Cottage will continue to provide evaluation services for families.
The CDSA will serve patients in Forsyth, Davie, Davidson, Stokes, Surry and Yadkin counties.
More than 500 children in these six counties currently participate in the state-supported Infant Toddler Early Intervention Program. That program will roll into the new program officially on July 1.
“We hope to increase the number of children who have access to this program,” Goldstein said. “We know there are many children out there who need our services and we want to make our resources as accessible as possible to them.”
Plans are underway to develop satellite locations in Mount Airy and Lexington.
Eligibility criteria for participation in the program include the following conditions and risk factors: delayed development, vision or hearing impairment, neurological disorders, severe prematurity, lack of adequate housing, substance abuse among parents, and mothers under the age of 15.
“The criteria to qualify for the program are very broad and help provide easy access to needed services,” Goldstein said. “We find them to be very inclusive.”
Evaluation and service coordination are free to all families. Other services are free to families who qualify for Medicaid and offered on a sliding fee scale to others. Many patients are referred to Amos Cottage by physicians, parents, social workers or day care centers. Evaluations are provided in a patient’s home community and at Amos Cottage.
For more information about this program, contact Amos Cottage at 336-774-2410.