Do you want to work in Early Intervention?

First things first. In New York, you will need an approval letter from the Department of Health to provide Early Intervention services. Download the application form here. Once approved, you may contract with the different early intervention agencies to do evaluations or service provision.

It is stated in the application that you must have a minimum of two years experience providing services to infants and toddlers with, or at risk of, developmental delay or disability. You are also to indicate your attendance in educational programs (e.g. continuing education courses, in-service trainings) that focus on early intervention for infants, toddlers and their families during the previous three years. Try to be as detailed as possible in discussing your pediatric experience to provide the reviewer as much information regarding your qualifications. You may use additional sheets as necessary to specifically outline your job description (especially the part pertaining to your work with the 0-3 population) or enclose a resume with sufficient informational data (e.g. age range of children you have worked with, types of diagnoses handled, treatment approaches used, etc.).

Occupational therapy assistants (certified or not) may or may not have a DOH approval letter and still work for EI agencies and provide services. This is possible because COTAs/OTAs need to be employed by the agency; they also require supervision.

For other FAQs, you may check out the NYS Department of Health website.