Help Me Grow Central Intake and Referral (CIR) had another successful year at this summer's Ohio State Fair.

Booth activities this year included craft, play, and story time stations; along with a referral desk where families could sign up and learn more about Help Me Grow services and the Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of Ohio. On both Saturdays, PBS' Daniel Tiger stopped by for a meet-and-greet with about 450 children and adults! Free Daniel Tiger books were distributed throughout the fair's duration, along with over 1,800 tote bags full of branded goodies for pregnant individuals and families with children under age 3.

CIR staff was able to help families complete the web referral form on iPads at the booth, resulting in 94 families being referred-- 58 to Home Visiting and 57 to Early Intervention (21 referred to both). 

We would like to thank our collaborators at the Governor's Office; leadership at the Ohio Department of Health and the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities; and the outreach and intake staff statewide who worked the booth.

Central Intake and Referral (CIR) processed 11,294 system referrals for EI in the fourth quarter of SFY23. There was an 11.6 percent increase in family or caregiver referrals from this time last year! Of those system referrals, 8,871 program referrals were assigned to local EI providers across the state.

From the Ohio Department of Health, CIR received 433 referrals for children with elevated blood lead levels (EBLL) and 30 referrals for children diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS)*.

*The NAS referrals referenced here are referrals CIR receives from the Ohio Department of Health (ODH). These referrals are only for children whose NAS diagnosis has been verified through ODH’s Ohio Connections for Children with Special Needs (OCCSN) system and constitute a small subset of the overall number of children diagnosed with NAS.

New communications have been developed to better serve families with children impacted with hearing loss or other audiological disabilities or delays. The Hearing Loss informational card and its accompanying webpage on helpmegrow.org are now available to share.

Once printed, the card will be distributed to families, physicians, audiologists, and other key EI stakeholders statewide by CIR.

New family testimonials have been added to the helpmegrow.org website. Click the images and buttons below to read each family's Help Me Grow experience!

Check out the new video above featuring the Ages & Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) Online service, a free resource provided through CIR to help families better understand their infant or toddler's development.

In the video, Help Me Grow Specialist, Besty Gizzo, walks families through completing the online questions and explains how they will receive results.

Please share this video with families and colleagues who could benefit from knowing more about the ASQ Online service!

Let us help with your candidate search!

You can now submit and share your agency's job postings on our website at helpmegrow.org/jobs. Tailor your job posting to include a detailed description, pay rate, position type (full time, remote, on site), and direct links to the application. Open positions will be posted and removed on dates you provide!

Job seekers can search available job postings by keyword, program (such as Early Intervention, Home Visiting, or Central Intake), or counties served.

Please note that this jobs site is only for Home Visiting, Early Intervention, and Central Intake and Referral positions within Ohio. Jobs that serve children, or families of children, over the age of five and/or outside the state of Ohio will not be posted.

Do you have any questions regarding anything in this email?

Contact us at communications@helpmegrow.org.

Past editions of this eNewsletter can be found at helpmegrow.org/providers.