Early Intervention Stakeholder Perspectives of Family-Centered Care Coordination: A Pilot Study

Optimal family-centered care coordination is the cornerstone of high-quality Early Intervention (EI) services, yet implementation varies across states, contributing to disparate child and family outcomes. We examined the perspectives of early intervention stakeholders from multiple states on their current family-centered care coordination practices using adapted grounded theory. We conducted qualitative interviews via online videoconferencing (with email follow up in some cases) in groups of 1 to 4 with a total of twenty-five participants ( n = 3 parents, n = 12 providers, n = 10 program leadership). Three themes emerged: 1) family-centered care coordination characterization; 2) complexity of early intervention systems and its adverse sequelae; and 3) what works well to enhance family-centered care coordination in early intervention. Using our findings, we refined and expanded the initial conceptual model, guiding the approach to the ongoing scale-up evaluation of family-centered care coordination across multiple states. We provide best practice recommendations for state-level high-value early intervention.