Children’s Service Coordination (CSC) provides resources to families who have a child with a developmental disability or chronic health condition. The services provided are initiated by each family and are unique to their specific needs.
The focus of Children’s Service Coordination is to assist the family in accessing services. Our goal is to educate and empower families to identify, access and utilize available resources in ways that are most helpful to them. This is achieved by partnering with a Children’s Service Coordinator.
Children’s Service Coordination (CSC) provides:
The Family Council is an advisory group to the Area Agency, made up of parents and family members of children and adults with developmental disabilities. Learn more here.
Environmental Modifications (E-mods) are physical adaptations to a person’s home that are necessary to ensure the health, welfare and safety of the person. E-mods may also be made to a vehicle if it is the primary source of transportation to a person who receives services. Examples of E-mods include wheelchair ramps and lifts, hand rails, roll-in showers, lifts, automatic door openers and widened doorways and hallways. E-mods enable a person to live with greater independence. For individuals with unsafe wandering and running behaviors, outdoor fencing may be a needed e-mod. E-mods do not include the purchase of a vehicle or improvements to a home or vehicle that are not medically necessary or are not needed for a person’s independence in their home or community.
Family Centered Early Supports & Services (FCESS), also known as ESS, provide resources to children from birth to three years of age and their families, including a developmental evaluation, family coaching, guidance, instruction, referral to community resources and emotional support.
Early Supports & Services professionals partner with families in addressing their priorities and concerns. While building on families’ existing strengths, they aid in exploring resources that would help the child and their family.
The evaluation (and subsequent services if determined eligible) looks a lot like play and is usually very enjoyable for both child and family. The evaluation team may include professionals in the fields of physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, early childhood education, behavioral intervention, social work and other consultative services. ESS staff members work with families to support their children’s progression through developmental milestones, respecting families’ values, needs, cultures and priorities in the natural settings of homes and childcare facilities.
To be eligible for Family-Centered Early Supports & Services in New Hampshire, children must meet one of the three specific eligibility categories:
A comprehensive developmental evaluation is provided to assist in determining a child’s eligibility for services. If your child is determined to be eligible, an Individualized Family Support Plan (IFSP) will be developed to address your child’s needs. Children eligible for ESS will also be eligible for Children’s Service Coordination at MDS.
Who can make a referral:
Parents, or with parents’ permission, extended family, physicians, child care providers or anyone with a concern about a child’s development can make a referral. Call your MDS Intake Coordinator at 603-352-1304 to make a referral. Please be prepared to provide your child’s full name, date of birth, parents’ names and contact information, and insurance information. The Intake Coordinator will arrange an appointment with you to explain the program, gather relevant information for the evaluation team, and assist with signing the necessary releases and consents. The evaluation team will then contact you to schedule an evaluation to determine eligibility for the program.
Family Centered Early Supports & Services are funded by state and federal funds, private and third party insurances. No child will be declined for services because of the family’s lack of financial resources.
Each child who enters ESS receives service coordination. As a child moves through ESS, service coordination is provided to be sure that the child’s transition into the school system or other community settings will be seamless. Your Service Coordinator, as agreed upon by you and your team, will work with you through the transition process.
Once eligible, families can work with:
Early Supports & Services
147 Washington Street
Keene, NH 03431
603-357-1395
In-Home Support (IHS) services provides residential habilitation for children or young adults who have a developmental disability and significant medical or behavioral challenges.
These supports, provided with the help of an In-Home Support service coordinator, include personal care and other related services to promote greater independence and skill development for children or young adults to allow them to remain living at home with their family and actively engage with their community.
To qualify, a child must have Medicaid, live at home with their family, and be 0-through age 20 and still in school.
In Home Supports services are intended to help the child and the family develop the skills that child needs to become an independent adult including such activities as:
The respite program at MDS allows family caregivers a much needed break, while giving the individual receiving respite care a chance to spend time in the community and enjoy personal interests with a trusted provider. The majority of individuals who receive respite funding have it covered through Medicaid. For those who do not qualify for Medicaid, MDS has additional limited funds available through a variety of grants such as Cheshire County grant and private donations.
Those receiving a respite allocation have a number of options, including:
The family pays out of pocket to cover respite hours, then submits a reimbursement form to receive their payment. They can choose whom they would like for a provider.
The provider applies for the position through MDS. They would have an initial meeting with the family to see if it is a good fit. The family will not need to pay out of pocket; staff complete a timesheet, have the family sign off on it, and submit to MDS.
Parents, caregivers (with parental permission) and members of the medical community can make a referral to Early Supports & Services through the intake coordinator at Monadnock Developmental Services, 603-352-1304.
To be eligible for services, children must be under three years of age and have a developmental delay or be at risk for a developmental delay in one or more of the following areas of development: physical, cognitive, communication, social-emotional, and/or adaptive. If you are unsure if your child is eligible for services, then please consider having a developmental evaluation. It is completed at no cost to you and will probably provide valuable information about your child’s development.
MDS Birth to Three provides services under contract with, and is a program of Monadnock Developmental Services. Services are funded by private insurance, Medicaid, and State and Federal programs.
Rise for Baby and Family provides Family Centered Early Supports and Services (FCESS) for children age birth to three who have, or are at-risk for, developmental delays and disabilities. Anyone can make a referral, after which Rise will provide a developmental evaluation to determine whether your child qualifies for the program. The evaluation, and all services through FCESS, are provided at no cost to caregivers.
After the evaluation, Rise will develop an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) to address your child’s developmental goals within the context of your daily routines in the home and community. Teams of therapists and educators work with families enrolled in the FCESS program to provide transdisciplinary services using a Parent Coaching model.
Rise Services:
Rise for baby and family’s Family Centered Early Supports and Services (FCESS) program uses a transdisciplinary team (TD) team approach, which provides your family with the convenience of one main point of contact and the expertise of the entire team. We provide holistic services that regard each child as an integrated, interactive whole person, who is a part of a family unit. Each child and family is unique and the TD approach recognizes that the multifaceted problems of very young children are too complex to be addressed by a single discipline. At Rise, home visitors exchange information, knowledge, and skills to support families most effectively. Our home visitors/service coordinators work directly with you and your child, through in-person visits and by video or telephone conference. They provide direct service, and also support you in carrying out interventions through daily routines. While home visitors are experts in their discipline and have strong developmental knowledge, you know your child best so it is very important that you work with your home visitor and your child during each session. One of the goals for each home visit is to collaborate and share ideas and resources for ways to best meet your child and family’s unique needs. Since young children learn best through play, our visits are play-based. Home visitors will use the toys and books that you have in your home to help meet the goals in your child’s service plan. Some additional toys/materials may be made available to you to help meet a specific need, either to try out or as a donation.
Service Coordination
Every child enrolled in FCESS at Rise has a service coordinator, who helps your family access resources in the community and helps coordinate if your family receives more than one service from Rise. Most often, your service coordinator is also the person who provides the direct services to your child and family. Although the whole FCESS staff shares responsibility for development of each child’s service plan, the service coordinator works with you to carry out the plan. Whether your service coordinator is an educator, autism specialist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, family counselor, or any other discipline, you can rest assured you and your child have access to the expertise of the entire Rise team. In addition, all our specialists are available to you for individual consultation.
Additional Services
Rise has an in-house autism specialist, who is available for consultation and is part of our team approach. Rise offers playgroups and special family events throughout the year. All the families we work with are invited to these events. Rise offers an on-site, fully inclusive child care program for children of all abilities up to age 3½.
121 Railroad Street
Keene, NH
603-352-1304
12 Depot Street, Suite 2A
Peterborough, NH
603-924-4203
Monadnock Development Services (MDS) is an Equal Opportunity Employer
©2023 Monadnock Development Services, Inc.
If you have a concern about anyone who is paid to support you or a family member or your services, you can contact the New Hampshire Bureau of Developmental Services (BDS) or ask your Service Coordinator or other trusted person to help you.
NH DHHS BDS
If your complaint is about abuse, neglect, or exploitation, or people who are not paid to help you, the New Hampshire Bureau of Adult and Aging Services (BAAS) must also be contacted.
NH DHHS BAAS
