NJ ladies-school me on EI
ToastieSimons
member
Currently we live in the Midwest. Our EI is statewide and 100% free. DS gets PT/OT/ST and the county center (it's EI birth-3 with classes and then from 3-22 it's a school, it also has a tech school and adult services). He is also eligible for the 2 yr old preschool and will start this fall.
He has global delays of about 50% in all areas with severe hypertonia and microcephaly.
With the very realistic possibility that DS2 has the same issues as DS1 I'm seriously considering moving back to NJ to be closer to family. We'd be in North Jersey (I think First Steps area according to the map).
I went on the EI website and it mentions cost-shares etc. Is all therapy provided in home, or are there regional therapy centers? Is there a cost for the services? Do they offer 2 yr old preschool classes? Anything else I should know?
Re: NJ ladies-school me on EI
I'm not aware of any 2 yr old preschools except for specifically for CP or DS. My daughter went to a typical daycare with some accomodations. Here is a link to the cost participation tables. The cost share starts at $5 at 3x the poverty level so it's not unreasonable but for us it was quite costly. If you have a diagnosis code (we used microcephaly and our daughter's heart condition and both qualified), you can also submit your cost share to insurance as an out-of-network charge. You need to get certain info from EI but it wasn't too bad to take care of. Therapy is in-home or at a location (school, daycare, etc) Since each of the areas are run through a hospital/therapy center, they can vary, but generally, you have a service coordinator who coordinates your IFSP and then a supervisor who assigns the therapists and then you can coordinate with them on scheduling. We never had any issues working around schedules. I'm in central NJ and my daughter has been in public school since she turned 3 two months ago, but she was in EI since she was 5 months old, so if you have additional questions, let me know. Our experience was very positive (apart from the cost - but such is life!)
https://www.nj.gov/health/fhs/eis/cost_tables.shtml
Sorry - link above
Chris was in EI from 15 months until 3. He did most in home but did some community based and some center based. Around 2 and a half the DI started going to a park with us and teaching play skills through playdates we had with a friend's daughter. PT came out a few times and they did a few sessions together. We also did PT through our ARC center just so he would get used to different equipment.
The other NJ ladies gave a good amount of info, but I will pipe in with the fact that the EI structure has changed a bit (2012) and there seem to be changes in the system?ie. no longer using 25% in 2 areas or 33% in 1 and moving to a Bell Curve system. This came from the assessor who came to my house two weeks ago for an annual review. (DS will age out in August anyway, but he has also tested out of EI.)
He has had all his therapies in the home, but they also can provide therapy in a private daycare setting. I do not believe there is a public 2 yr preschool class but I do not know for certain. I do live in Northern NJ (Morris County) and if you end up near me, please send a PM with any local questions.
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