Impact Through Collaboration
December 19, 2024
Background on the Ages & Stages Questionnaires Project
In 2021, through generous funding from the John & Janice Wyatt Foundation, Fairfax Futures worked with Fairfax County - Falls Church Infant Toddler Connection (ITC) and Fairfax County Public Schools Early Childhood Identification and Services, also known as Child Find, to create a learning course promoting the use of the Ages & Stages Questionnaires (ASQ®) in Fairfax County early childhood programs. These partners have been instrumental to the project’s success and ongoing implementation of ASQ® in the community.
The collaboration between Fairfax Futures, ITC and Child Find supports evidence-based practices that promote what is known about the importance of early identification: It is now widely accepted that early intervention services can generate long-term benefits for children and families (Guralnick, 2005) and that quality intervention programs can have a great positive effect on a child’s future abilities (Blair, 2002; Hart & Risley, 1995). Researchers found that positive experiences for children and families prior to entering school-aged programming is likely to produce better outcomes than late age remediation programs and significant up-front costs generate a strong return on investment (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2007). Early intervention programs positively affect children’s school achievement, reduce dropout rates, and minimize costs for remediation and for special education services. Leading economists confirm that early investments in human capital represent the most effective approach with the greatest return on public investment. Program Profile: Early Childhood Identification and Services | Fairfax County Public Schools (fcps.edu)
The learning course provides early childhood educators with the expertise to implement the ASQ®, in collaboration with parents, to screen children birth to five years for potential developmental and/or social-emotional delays. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Association of Young Children recommend the use of screenings by early childhood educators, families, and pediatricians (Macy, 2022). Screenings can help a family to better understand their child’s development and access additional available resources, if needed. Cecilia Herola-Morris, Service Coordinator Supervisor with ITC explained, “As a parent report tool, the questionnaires provide an important communication opportunity for parents to discuss concerns they have about their child’s development in a structured manner with an early childhood educator.” One success story involves an early childhood educator who identified a child with delayed speech. After completing the ASQ® Learning Course, the educator realized that a 2-year-old child in her care was not using words yet and instead mostly babbled. The child tried to imitate words and sounds but they didn’t come out clearly. The educator was able to talk to the parent about the concerns and conduct a screening, which resulted in a successful referral to county resources for speech services.
Following successful completion of the course and demonstrated proficiency in using the ASQ® tools, educators are invited to enroll in the ASQ® Online, a convenient and accessible online screening tool. This digital platform allows programs to more efficiently manage their screening data, collect completed questionnaires from families, and monitor the progress of children who are enrolled in their programs. One Child Find site and members of the ITC team were early champions of this digital tool which provided a more efficient way to understand county-wide screening efforts. Presently, ITC and all three FCPS Child Find sites in the county, use the ASQ® Online, in partnership with families as an early identification tool to screen children for possible delays who may need services. As of November 2024, nearly 6,500 ASQ-3 and ASQ:SE-2 online screenings have been completed in Fairfax County since the launch of this initiative. Child Find and ITC completed 67% of these online screenings.
“We are proud to partner with Fairfax Futures, IFEL, FCPS Child Find and ITC on the ASQ® expansion work in Fairfax County,” said Matt Peterson, Executive Director of the John & Janice Wyatt Foundation. “To further the vision of improving school readiness, being able to screen for any potential developmental challenges or delays as early as possible is crucial to ensuring better opportunities for families to access resources and support. The ASQ® expansion initiative focuses on teaching more educators and early childhood programs how to use the ASQ® screening tools in partnership with families, but equally important is to have incredible agencies on the back end – like Child Find and ITC – to manage the increases in referrals and to better guarantee those referrals are handled quickly and effectively.”
Tori Ongodia, Manager of Programs & Communications, Fairfax Futures; Sallyann Rodriguez-Sawao, Executive Director, Fairfax Futures; Holly Blum, Childcare Specialist, Neighborhood School Readiness Project contributed to this article.