Virginia’s Universities Work Together to Strengthen the Early Interventionist Pipeline
Consortium aims to remedy shortage of early intervention practitioners
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Aug. 21, 2024
Due to nationwide early intervention (EI) provider shortages, personnel recruitment and retention strategies are critical. Children under age three with developmental delays or disabilities are entitled to these services by federal law under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). To address the need for a stronger pipeline of early interventionists, Virginia universities formed a unique consortium called the Virginia Early Intervention/Preservice Consortium. The Consortium brings together faculty and staff from seven universities across Virginia to strengthen relationships with local EI systems, conduct research, and increase placement opportunities and share education resources for EI higher education students. To learn more about the Consortium, I interviewed Cori Hill, VEIPD Center Director and EI Professional Development Specialist, Dr. Christine Spence, Associate Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, and Dr. Heather Walter, Assistant Professor at George Mason University. This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
What challenges does the Consortium address?
Dr. Spence: The EI workforce shortage is at the crisis level. The Consortium has a priority to develop partnerships between Virginia’s higher education programs and the EI system to support students who can be future EI professionals. Fieldwork experiences are invaluable opportunities for higher education students to learn about EI, however we recognize the time constraints, staff shortages, and stress that EI providers face that could impact their ability to take higher education students for field placements. A state Part C EI staff member representing the state’s technical assistance team is part of the Consortium to help both higher education and local programs understand each other’s needs.
As a Commonwealth, Virginia’s EI system comprises forty local systems. While all operate under the purview of the state EI system through an annual contract, every EI system has local autonomy. Differing local lead agencies, funding, and staff structure makes it difficult to navigate requirements for field placements such as Memorandums of Agreements and screening requirements (e.g., agency onboarding policies, criminal background checks, fingerprinting, etc).
Many universities' preservice programs have moved online. While there are many benefits, this also means that navigating the above requirements now may require statewide rather than locally-driven (close to each university) adaptations for field placements and developing new relationships across the state.
What are the major issues that the Consortium addresses?
Director Hill: The Consortium is dedicated to a focus on relationships, communication, and preparation. High priority is placed on continuing dialogue between institutions of higher education (IHEs) and local EI systems; identifying consistent processes for university placements for student fieldwork; and embedding EI content into coursework prior to field experiences. Focus groups among Consortium members and local EI system leadership highlighted the importance of building collaborative relationships through enhanced and frequent communication as the strongest path to adequately prepare future early interventionists.
How has the Consortium's work led to changes in Virginia to better support the early intervention system?
Dr. Spence: Through involvement in the Consortium, faculty across Virginia have formed stronger relationships that positively impact higher education students through enhanced curriculum and field experiences. The intentional focus on infants and toddlers has balanced the curriculum, so there is not as heavy of a focus on only preschoolers with disabilities, which is important given the birth to five years focus of the licensure.
Staff from the state Part C office also participate in the Consortium, providing a direct link between personnel preparation and practitioners. As a result of these efforts, EI local system managers are also partners in joint problem-solving efforts in support of high-quality EI field placements. A symbiotic relationship now exists. The state Interagency Coordinating Council meeting topics include personnel recruitment and retention issues, and state staff bring personnel preparation issues to the Consortium.
Consortium members are deeply involved at local, regional, and national levels where we present and publish together. Faculty members have adopted a spirit of “collaboration, not competition.”
What policy changes are still needed to support the early intervention system?
Dr. Walter: To truly make any headway in policy, we need policies that uplift the early childhood years and acknowledge disability as a natural part of the human condition. Policies also need to provide access and accommodations, support new families, fully fund IDEA, and encourage pay equity. EI workforce recruitment and retention are vital. Awareness of EI, both for families and for potential practitioners as a career possibility, is critical. EI practitioners must be highly qualified to provide disability services, which requires a significant investment in higher education. Once in the field, mentoring is essential to support systems-level issues, including cross-agency collaboration, which can support access to EI.
What instigated the creation of the Consortium, and what needed to happen for it to be created?
Director Hill: Part C of IDEA requires that every state has a Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD) to ensure an adequately prepared EI workforce. Virginia’s CSPD is contracted from the state EI office to the Partnership for People with Disabilities through the Virginia Early Intervention Professional Development (VEIPD) Center. For the past two decades Virginia’s CSPD has included a contractual deliverable to collaborate with IHEs on current EI practices and resources. Throughout those twenty years, faculty who prepared EI and early childhood special education students and the CSPD coordinator met to discuss how to increase the quantity and quality of the EI workforce. While relationships and commitment to growing the workforce was strong, structure and consistency for collaboration was limited.
IHE faculty convened for a collaborative institute where they shared EI resources that could support enhanced student knowledge and skills. They agreed that a coordinated, less competitive effort was needed across universities and faculty to improve fieldwork options. By the spring of 2020, state IHEs hired more faculty who had work experience as EI practitioners themselves, which heightened interest in focusing on the EI workforce, and the Consortium was formed. The Consortium now includes faculty representing seven Virginia universities from education, early childhood special education, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech language pathology disciplines.
Is there anything else you would like to share about the importance of the Consortium and of early intervention?
Dr. Walter: The Consortium's goals for the next five years focus on creating a strong platform to foster ongoing relationships as well as establishing new relationships pertaining to enhancing Virginia's EI workforce. We know that change takes time, and we know that in order to create the change we want it takes a unified, collaborative effort. It is critical that we continue to engage in discussions across institutions and programs as well as prioritize diverse, interdisciplinary perspectives to enhance the quality and quantity of the EI workforce, as that is our ultimate goal.