Central Intake and Referral (CIR) processed 11,993 system referrals for EI in the third quarter of SFY23. There was a 16 percent increase in physician referrals and a 10 percent increase in family or caregiver referrals from this time last year! Of those system referrals, 9,463 program referrals were assigned to local EI providers across the state.

From the Ohio Department of Health, CIR received 313 referrals for children with elevated blood lead levels (EBLL) and 69 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 items have been added to the EI order form!

• The EI Roadmap, available for delivery in August, guides both families and professionals through the Early Intervention process, from referral to service delivery. 
• The ASQ bookmark, a compact promotional item that briefly explains the questionnaire's benefits and uses, is available now.
• The EI Developmental Wheel is now available in a variety of foreign languages, including Arabic, French, Nepali, Somali, Spanish, and Swahili.

To order materials, click the button below or complete the EI order form at www.helpmegrow.org/EIOrderForm.

CIR will again be representing Help Me Grow at the Ohio State Fair this year from July 26-August 6! In collaboration with the Ohio Governor's Imagination Library, the Help Me Grow booth will be in the Ohio Expo Center the entire length of the fair. Booth activities will include:

• a craft station, where children can make fan art as a part of the Governor’s Children’s Passport Initiative;
• a story time/play station; and
• a referral station where families can ask questions and get connected to Early Intervention and Home Visiting services.

If any of your families will be attending the state fair, have them be on the lookout for our booth! If you are visiting the state fair, please come say hi!

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.