Research and Training Center on Service Coordination
Overview
The Research and Training Center on Service Coordination was a five-year project funded by the Office of Special Education Programs, US Department of Education. The center was a partnership between The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Indiana University, the Federation for Children with Special Needs (MA), Utah State University and the University of Connecticut A.J. Pappanikou Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. The goal of the center was to examine the status of service coordination for children with disabilities and their families receiving early intervention services under Part C of IDEA. There were three strands of participants: families, service providers and system administrators. Members of these three groups participated in all center activities.
Accomplishments
- Completed four studies on national service coordination models and training.
- Facilitated focus groups from four focal states (Connecticut, Indiana, Massachusetts, and North Carolina) that yielded outcomes and practices of service coordination.
- Preformed Delphi studies to narrow down the numerous outcomes and practices generated from the focus groups to those most essential for service coordinators.
- Completed two national surveys, one on outcomes of early intervention, service coordination and natural environments and one on service coordinator practices.
- Conducted in-depth interviews with family members of children enrolled in early intervention and their early intervention service coordinators.