Early Intervention Service Coordination and Developmental Specialist
Early Intervention (EI) builds upon and provides supports and resources to assist family members and caregivers to enhance children’s learning and development through everyday learning opportunities. A developmental specialist (DS) is a member of the EI team that is trained to provide special instruction as part of an individualized family service plan (IFSP). An early intervention service coordinator (EISC) is the key contact for the family who has responsibilities to work on behalf of the family and child through eligibility determination, Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) development, and service access, provision, and monitoring.
EISCs and DSs must obtain and renew their credentials through the Ohio Professional Registry. Professionals should begin by creating an OPR profile that includes employment, education, and any current credentials. See Create Profile for instructions on how to create a profile.
Early Intervention Credential/Certification FAQs
Certificates of completion will be reviewed by the OPR Verification Specialists according to the requirements for initial Early Intervention Service Coordinator and Development Specialist. After review, the documents will be given a designation of Verified, Unable to Verify, or Additional Action.
- Verified – the specialist can confirm that the training has been approved by the DCY Early Intervention team.
- Unable to verify – the training has not been approved by the EI team for a credential
- Additional Action – a revision is need to the document entry or to your profile.
If the entry is designated as unable to verify or additional action, the reviewer will add a brief note stating the reason, and a notification will be added to your OPR profile via the Notifications tab as well as in the Professional Development tab.
- In the Notifications tab of your profile, find the notification titled, “Professional Development Record Denied” and click on the arrow on the right to open and read the message.
- To see the message for a specific training entry, go to the Professional Development tab of your OPR profile, find the training in the list; in the Status column, next to “unable to verify,” you can hover your mouse over the small circle icon to read the message.
- Entries designated as “additional action needed” can be edited and resubmitted. The message from the reviewer will note what action to take. No need to create a new entry for that training.
- EISC and EISC Supervisor applications may be greyed out if any of the following conditions are not met:
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- The role of EISC or EISC Supervisor has been added to the applicant’s Employment tab.
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- The applicant’s college transcript has been uploaded and marked as “Verified” in the Education tab.
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- All required training has been marked as “Verified” in the applicant’s Professional Development tab.
- DS Applications may be greyed out if any of the following conditions are not met:
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- The role of DS has been added to the applicant’s Employment tab.
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- The applicant’s college transcript has been uploaded and marked as “Verified” in the Education tab.
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- The applicant’s DODD-issued DS certification (if applicable) has been uploaded and marked as “Verified” in the Credential tab.
EI professionals should check the professional development tab in their OPR profile to determine what courses have been submitted or verified.
Next, they will need to upload any professional development certificates for training that is not already listed in the profile.
Directions can be found in the EISC User Guide or DS User Guide.
Last, professionals should complete the CPD tracking form indicating what courses they are using toward renewal. This form must be submitted in the attachment section of the application.
Early Intervention Resources
Ohio Early Intervention Certifications and Credentials
Verification Tips (My Learning)
Organizational Dashboard
The Organization Dashboard supports management of the Early Intervention Agency staff. Supervisors and Agency Managers can view Service Coordinators, Developmental Specialists, credentials, current credential status with expiration dates, additional licensure, view Professional Development completion, and run reports.
Early Intervention Service Coordinator Credential
EISC Employer Verification Form
EISC Supervisor Verification Form
EISC Credential Application User Guide