Up to 3 Program helps parents understand, cope
Every parent wants to see their child running on the playground or hear them chatting with their friends and siblings, but some children may be behind in developing these skills.
The Up to 3 Early Intervention Program housed on the campus of Utah State University was established to help these children catch up or develop correctly.
“You’ve got to start with them while they [children] are very young. It is really important that they have their early development growth,” said Karen Hansen, the program coordinator.
The goal of the program is to help children develop to age-appropriate levels in all aspects of growth. She said children will remain in the program until they reach the appropriate skill levels or until they are three years of age.
If a child stays with the program until they are 3 years old, they will then go through a transitional phase to help them prepare to enter pre-schools and public schools, Hansen said.
Brandy Saunders, a Newton resident whose son Braxton has been in the program, said she has really appreciated how they have helped her son.
“I’ve really enjoyed the program. They’ve helped Braxton meet a lot of milestones in his life,” she said.
Curt Phillips, a physical therapist with the program said the milestones Saunders is talking about include rolling over, sitting up and walking.
In order to accomplish these things, Phillips said their goal is to help families learn what they can do to be part of the work.
“We go out into their homes and help the kids and their families,” he said.
Many programs bring the children into a central location and work within the clinics, but Phillips said the Up to 3 Program goes into the home so parents will know how to help the children in their own natural environment.
“Our job is to give them [children] a chance to catch up with where they should be with their peers,” he said.
Hansen said the program is actually part of a statewide program run by the Utah State Department of Health. The program came to Cache Valley 12 years ago. Within the program, the staff is capable of handling all situations.
“Under our program, we have everything in house,” she said.
The staff of more than 30 employees includes a nurse, therapist and case workers.
“All of our people are licensed, none of them are students,” she said.
These employees are the ones who are making the evaluations and helping the families with therapy.
Hansen said most of the children in the program come from physician referrals, but word of mouth has also helped the staff identify children who should be involved.
There is no waiting list to be involved. Once a child is referred or a parent contacts the program, a nurse is sent to do an initial evaluation of the child’s needs.
“We have to move very fast, we only have them [children] for three years,” she said.
To evaluate a child’s need for the program, the staff uses four different criteria, Hansen said. The first is a standardized test. The second is clinical opinions. The third is a diagnosed condition and the last is the presence of syndromes such as Downs syndrome.
Once a child is admitted into the program, the family becomes a part of the treatment team.
“The family is a team member. They are one of us,” Hansen said.
Together with the families, the case workers and therapist will establish goals for the child’s development.
One of the main goals is to help the child develop in their own natural environment. That is one of the main reasons therapists go into the homes, Hansen said.
The program currently helps more than 200 children with various delays in development, she said. Since July, the program has seen a 25 percent increase in numbers.
“I would hate to see anything happen if we weren’t able to serve those we can have such an impact on,” she said. “The basic philosophy of ‘the earlier the better’ is true.”
Saunders said the therapist came to the family and became good friends with her son. They would come into the home and involve his older brother Kyler as well.
“Braxton is more motivated when Kyler was making the plays,” she said.
Saunders said the program was very successful for her and her family.
“They helped me be more aware of ways to help Braxton. They helped me be more aware of Braxton’s disability,” she said.
Now that he has turned 3, Braxton has started to attend pre-school in the Cache County School District, she said.
“It really is worth it,” Saunders said. “It is time-consuming and people do come to your house and, though some people don’t like that, it is really worth it.”