Eligibility and Intake

The first step is to contact Help Me Grow at 1-800-755-4769 or 419-524-2660.

Central Coordination will assist you in a referral. Your family will be assigned a local Early Intervention (EI) Service Coordinator. The EI service coordinator will meet with your family to discuss the Early Intervention program and begin the eligibility process.

Eligibility for Early Intervention is determined by meeting one of the following and eligibility may need to be determined annually:

• A documented qualifying diagnosed physical or medical condition;
• Established developmental delay in one or more of the following domains adaptive, cognitive, communication, physical and/or personal/social through the administration of an approved tool by an EI evaluation team;
• Informed Clinical opinion when approved tool used does not establish a delay but the EI evaluation team provides a written explanation of the sources of information used and how those sources of information supports eligibility;
• A child moves to Ohio with an eligibility determination and/or individualized family service plan and has information and documents which meets Ohio’s eligibility for early intervention.

For children between the ages of three and five, eligibility is based on assessment results showing a developmental delay in at least two of the five areas below:

• adaptive behavior
• communication
• physical development
• learning and/or
• social-emotional functioning

A child who is between six years of age through 15 years of age is eligible for services if he or she meets the following criteria:

• Has been diagnosed with a developmental disability by a qualified professional.
• Has a diagnosis that is expected to be life-long.
• Is attributable to a mental and/or physical impairment that is not solely caused by mental illness
• Manifested before the age of 22
• Is determined to have at least three functional limitations based on the results of the Children’s Ohio Eligibility Determination Instrument (COEDI). The areas that will be assessed are:
  Self-Care: Skills such as bathing, toileting, dressing, eating, etc.
  Communication: Skills in the areas of receptive and expressive communication
  Mobility: How well the child moves about in their environment
  Learning: The child’s ability to read, time telling, count money, etc.
  Self-Direction: The child’s ability to make age appropriate decisions and understand cause and effect
  Capacity for Independent Living: The child’s ability to do daily living tasks at an age appropriate level such as make a snack, operate a television or microwave, take dirty dishes to sink, etc.

Eligibility determinations can be initiated at any time. Reassessments with the Ohio Eligibility Determination Instrument (COEDI/OEDI) will occur at age six years old, 16 years old, and as determined by the director of support administration.

An individual over the age of 16 is eligible for services if he or she meets the following criteria:

• Has been diagnosed with a developmental disability by a qualified professional.
• Has a diagnosis that is expected to be life-long.
• Is attributable to a mental and/or physical impairment that is not solely caused by mental illness
• Manifested before the age of 22
• Is determined to have at least three functional limitations based on the results of the Ohio Eligibility Determination Instrument (OEDI) The areas that will be assessed are:
  Self-Care: Skills such as bathing, toileting, dressing, eating, etc.
  Communication: Skills in the areas of receptive and expressive communication
  Mobility: How well the individual moves about in their environment
  Learning: The individual’s ability to read, time telling, count money, etc.
  Self-Direction: The individual’s ability to make age appropriate decisions and understand cause and effect
  Capacity for Independent Living: The individual’s ability to do daily living tasks at an age appropriate level such as make a snack, operate a television or microwave, take dirty dishes to sink, etc.
  Economic Self-Sufficiency: The individual’s ability to work and manage their finances