Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, Inc. (on behalf of the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities)

More than 16% of children in the U.S. have one or more physical, cognitive, or communication developmental delays or disabilities. Supportive early intervention services can mitigate or reverse negative outcomes if they are provided in the first three years of a child’s life. In New York, only 29% of children ages 0 to 5 are evaluated and referred to services annually—placing New York in the bottom quartile nationally. Screening gaps can lead to needs going undetected until a child reaches school age, by which time a critical window for intervention has passed. Disparities in access are heightened for children in communities of color, who are uninsured, and who live in limited-English speaking homes. In 2024, NYHealth awarded a grant for the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) to test a telehealth pediatric screening and referral program to evaluate infants and children for developmental delays and refer high-risk cases to no-cost early intervention services. 

Under this grant, OPWDD will partner with the pediatric team at Richmond University Medical Center (RUMC) on Staten Island to test a centralized and universal telehealth screening program outside of doctors’ offices, promoting more timely and accurate screenings and referrals for early intervention services. OPWDD will recruit parents; administer virtual or in-person screenings for enrolled parents to assess the child’s developmental progress and the family’s health-related social needs; engage partners to provide wraparound social support to families; analyze key metrics; and and share lessons learned with early intervention providers to inform policy and public investment to scale the model.