Virginia Early Intervention Professional Development Center

Early intervention (EI) is a rewarding career that will offer you the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of infants and toddlers with disabilities or developmental delays and their families. The primary role of an EI service provider is to support families to increase their child’s participation in everyday routines and activities. EI service providers use coaching interactions during in-person or virtual EI visits to help caregivers develop their abilities to interact with their children in ways that support their child’s development. Visit the VA Early Intervention Videos page or the VEIPD Videos YouTube Channel to find many videos about the importance and benefits of EI and to listen to families and service providers share their stories.

EI uses multi-disciplinary teams of individuals from a broad array of backgrounds and educational pathways including developmental service providers (educators), service coordinators, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, infant mental health specialists, social workers, and more. Job opportunities are available for those with two-year, four-year, and advanced degrees. The Infant & Toddler Connection of Virginia (ITCVA) Practice Manual, Table C: Practitioner Qualifications and Responsibilities chart provides details.

Virginia EI practitioners except physicians, audiologists and registered dieticians, must be certified by the State Lead Agency as an Early Intervention Professional, Early Intervention Specialist, or Early Intervention Case Manager. This additional certification ensures that EI practitioners are knowledgeable about Virginia’s EI key principles, evidence-based practices, effective service implementation, typical birth-age three child development, provider responsibilities, etc. The type of certification needed depends on the practitioner’s discipline-specific qualifications and job requirements. Review The Infant & Toddler Connection of Virginia (ITCVA) Practice Manual, Table C: Practitioner Qualifications and Responsibilities chart for information about the types of certification and requirements. For more information about the EI certification process, visit the Initial Certification page.

In Virginia’s EI system, educators are called Developmental Service Providers. They typically have a background in early childhood special education (ECSE), early childhood education (ECE), special education, deaf education or education of the visually impaired. Sometimes, professionals from disciplines other than education provide Developmental Services, such as nursing or child development. Developmental services is another name for the federal term, special instruction. For information about the role of special instruction, read the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) Position Statement - The Role of Special Instruction. The DEC EI/ECSE Standards may also be informative.

• Occupational Therapists
  American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Early Intervention-Practice Portal (external website)
• Speech-Language Pathologists
  American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Early Intervention – Practice Portal (external website)
• Physical Therapists
  Academy of Pediatric Physical Therapy (external website, pdf)

For information about current employment opportunities, visit the Infant & Toddler Connection of VA Employment Opportunities page or contact any of the 40 Local System Managers in locations of interest