Consultative Experience
All new providers
- Have 18 months from the date their temporary credentials are issued to complete the required 240 hours of consultation verification. DT-Hearing, DT-Vision, and DT-O&M and providers credentialed under the EI service categories of Clinical Assessment, Counseling and other Therapeutic Services, Nursing, Nutrition, and Social Services, as defined in Appendix C, need only document 120 hours.
- Documentation of this requirement must show that the individual participated in consultation with an appropriately experienced individual of the same discipline/Early Intervention service group who has experience working with children ages birth to three with special needs and their families. The consultation shall be in compliance with the professional standards of the individual seeking the credential, as determined and documented by the consultant. Monthly Ongoing Professional Development must occur during this period. Please use the Consultation Verification Form and Ongoing Professional Development Documentation Form to document these experiences.
- Early Intervention Service Groups: The Early Intervention Program will allow providers to meet with disciplines that fall in the same “EI Service” group as defined in Rule 500, Appendix C.
- Aural Rehabilitation/Other Related Services (Speech/Language Pathologists and Developmental Therapists/Hearing)
- Clinical Assessment, Counseling and Other Therapeutic Services (clinical psychologists, clinical professional counselors, marriage and family therapists, clinical social workers, and Board Certified Behavior Analysts)
- Developmental Therapy (DT) (DT, DT/Hearing and DT/Vision)
- Nutrition (licensed dietitian nutritionists and registered nurses)
- Social Services (social workers, and professional counselors)
- Early Intervention Service Groups: The Early Intervention Program will allow providers to meet with disciplines that fall in the same “EI Service” group as defined in Rule 500, Appendix C.
- Documentation of this requirement must show that the individual participated in consultation with an appropriately experienced individual of the same discipline/Early Intervention service group who has experience working with children ages birth to three with special needs and their families. The consultation shall be in compliance with the professional standards of the individual seeking the credential, as determined and documented by the consultant. Monthly Ongoing Professional Development must occur during this period. Please use the Consultation Verification Form and Ongoing Professional Development Documentation Form to document these experiences.
- All new unlicensed providers (except DTs) must complete the four core knowledge areas during the 18-month temporary period. DTs are required to document the completed four core knowledge area requirements upon application.
A credential extension of up to 6 months for credentialed Specialist and Associate Level providers & 90 days for credentialed Service Coordinators and Parent Liaisons may be granted due to non-compliance with consultation experience and/or completion of training requirements established due to extreme hardship or extenuating circumstances. Such requests will be evaluated on an individual case basis and must follow the prescribed procedures.
Per IDHS Bureau of Early Intervention policy, if a provider is not able to meet the Consultation requirement within the 18-month period and no extenuating circumstances have been documented, that provider can only finish out open authorizations on Early Intervention children. If the provider is an assistant, services must stop. The provider may reapply after 12 months.
Credential Extension Request Form
Ongoing Professional Development Plan (OPDP)
All new/renewing EI credentialed providers must agree to participate in OPDP activities by using the Ongoing Professional Development Plan Format. OPDP activities are a once a month, non-billable, meeting held either face-to-face or over the telephone with an individual specialist-level credentialed provider or group, of which at least one member is a specialist-level credentialed provider. A Credentialed Provider, now including providers with a temporary credential, must document a minimum of 75% of their Ongoing Professional Development Plan (OPDP) meetings completed.
These meetings are intended to be used for professional development through discussion of client/family concerns, needs, strengths, resources, priorities, outcomes, strategies, and service plans in order to support best practices.
- If 75% of the Ongoing Professional Development Meetings are not submitted, the provider must submit a plan for the next year stating with whom that provider will meet to fulfill the requirement. A 1-year Full Monitored credential is issued. One month prior to the end of the monitored status, the provider must submit documentation of completion of OPDP meetings using the Ongoing Professional Documentation Form must. If the documentation demonstrates compliance, the monitored status will be withdrawn and the credential will be issued for the remaining two years.
- If documentation of the required meetings are not received by Provider Connections by the expiration date, the credential will be inactivated and cannot be reactivated for 12 months from the above expiration date.