First Steps Core Training (FSCT)

Indiana's Unified Training System

UTS Programmatic Training

Onsite Trainings

FSCT-AEPS Overview
Restricted Audience: Direct Service Providers and Intake/Ongoing Service Coordinators new to the system since September 2007
Description: The Assessment, Evaluation and Programming System (AEPS) is the assessment tool used by Eligibility Determination (ED) Teams as part of the process to determine First Steps eligibility. This 3 hour course is available as a First Steps Core Training only to new providers and service coordinators whose enrollment date is after September 2007. Topics to be covered include an overview of the AEPS tool, scoring guidelines, family reporting and the use of the AEPS assessment in the development of IFSP goals, strategies and activities. The course provides an overview only and is not intended as a training to use the AEPS tool. The course will provide general information about the AEPS tool and the eligibility determination process for newly enrolled ongoing providers and service coordinators. It does not substitute for the full 2-day AEPS training, required for all ED team members.
Credential Units: .3

FSCT -The Paper Trail – A Guide to First Step Provider Documentation
Restricted Audience: Any Direct Service Providers
Description: First Steps, Indiana’s program for the Individuals with Disability Education Improvement Act, (IDEA) Part C, has many requirements for the early intervention record and individual provider documentation. This half-day course will provide an overview of the early intervention record, including the Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP), Face-to-Face form, and provider progress notes. Participants will discuss how to requests changes in IFSP services, writing effective outcomes and organizational strategies to insure that documentation meets all required timelines. Basic information on documentation needed for First Steps credentialing and billing will also be presented.
Credential Units: .3

FSCT -Understanding Diversity within Families
Unrestricted Audience: Direct Service Providers and Intake/Ongoing Service Coordinators
Seminar Description: Participants will engage in guided learning opportunities that will demonstrate how cultural influences affect all of us. Participants will discuss how their own perceptions and experiences impact their daily interactions and those with the children and families they serve.

Seminar Objectives: Identify individual beliefs and biases related to your own culture. Determine action steps towards developing cultural sensitivity that can be integrated into your work. Recognize cultural differences and report how you value them in relation to families and have an opportunity to talk about the aspects of recognizing the importance of fathers and their roles within the family structure.
Credential Units: .6

FSCT - Using the AEPS to develop strategies for therapy sessions

Restricted audience: Direct Service Providers who completed their initial credential prior to January 1, 2008.

Description: This is also a 3-hour face-to-face training that focuses on reading and interpreting the AEPS report to write appropriate outcomes on the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP). Providers will also learn how to write appropriate IFSP progress reports that reflect the progress made on the outcomes written in the IFSP. This course covers the same topics as DSP 103 that new providers must take in their first year of enrollment. This course can NOT be substituted for DSP 103.

Training Value: .3 Credential units or 3 instructional hours
Training Cost: $25
Training Notes: Out of respect for children and participants, absolutely no children will be allowed in the training.
Training Sponsor: Indiana's Unified Training System
Indiana First Steps
ProKids, Inc

AEPS 2 Day Course

The 2-day AEPS course can now be used as a First Steps Core Training (FSCT) for your First Steps initial or annual credential. The Bureau of Child Development Services has approved the full 2-day AEPS course as a (FSCT). The cost for the 2 day AEPS training is $75 and is not included in the Annual Provider Fee. (Providers can still use their annual training fee to attend another FSCT). Providers who wish to take advantage of using the 2-day AEPS for their annual mandatory training cannot have used it for credential points in a previous credential period. Please contact training@utsprokids.org if you have questions or need additional information.

FSCT -Writing Functional Outcomes for Service Coordinators
Restricted Audience: Intake/Ongoing Service Coordinators
Description: IFSP outcome writing has long been a challenge for both families and professionals. However, writing functional, measurable, and family driven outcomes will provide the needed evidence to support that early intervention programs do make a difference in the lives of the children and families we serve. The goal of this training is to revisit what we may think we know about writing family guided outcomes and encourage participants to "think outside the box" as we offer clarifications on how to make outcomes truly belong to the family.
Credential Units: .3

FSCT -Documentation for Service Coordinators
Restricted Audience: Intake/Ongoing Service Coordinators

FSCT -Home Visiting
Unrestricted Audience: Direct Service Providers and Intake/Ongoing Service Coordinators

FSCT -Writing Functional Outcomes
Restricted Audience: Direct Service Providers

Self-Study Courses

FSCT- Direct Serivce Provider Refresher Course
Restricted Audience: Direct Service Providers who entered the system prior to August 2007.
Description: This course takes you through the DSP 101 orientation course which is offered in a distance education format. Many of the topics covered in the new Direct Service Provider Orientation we not covered in the old format of orientation. This interactive training requires providers to view narrated PowerPoint presentations, complete self-assessment questions, and apply the newly learned concepts by completing several Application Station exercises. The training, which consists of six modules, focuses on the following content areas:
Overview of First Steps
Natural Environments
Procedural Safeguards
Working as a Team to provide Family-Centered Care
Home Visiting
Mechanics for Direct Service Providers

After providers complete the six modules, they are required to take an online assessment and achieve an 80% or higher and complete application stations for the 6 modules.

Once registered you will receive a confirmation email within 2 business days. Within 7 business days you should receive a packet in the mail with the appropriate materials.

Please note: There is a 45 day timeline in which to complete this training. The time to complete is approximately 10 hours. The date listed on the training calendar to register is the last day of the month that you may register for that training. It does not coincide with your due date or date you will start the training. Your 45 day timeline begins the day you register for the training

Credential Units: 1.0

FSCT- Service Coordination Refresher Course
Restricted Audience: Intake/Ongoing Service Coordinators who entered the system prior to December 2007.
Description:
Please note: There is a 45 day timeline in which to complete this training. The time to complete is approximately 10 hours.
Credential Units: 1.0

FSCT- Providing EI Supports and Services in Everyday Routines, Activities, and Places - REGISTRATION FULL - WILL RE-OPEN SEPTEMBER 1, 2008.
Unrestricted Audience: Direct Service Providers and Intake/Ongoing Service Coordinators
Description: By completing this training, participants will be able to:
understand the value of providing early intervention services in natural environments
understand the importance of identifying a family’s everyday routines, activities, and places
identify the elements of quality service early intervention supports and services.
design early intervention activities that include the features of quality supports and services

Through this interactive self-study, participants will learn the guiding principles for providing early intervention services and supports in everyday routines, activities, and places and the key features of quality early intervention supports and services. Participants will observe these principles and features being applied while viewing vignettes on Larry Edelman’s DVD, Just Being Kids. Participants will also receive planning tools that can be used to identify a family’s routines so participants can develop early intervention activities that encompass the family’s natural environment.

Once registered you will receive a confirmation email within 2 business days. Within 7 business days you should receive a packet in the mail with the appropriate materials.

Please note: There is a 45 day timeline in which to complete this training. The time to complete is approximately 5 hours. The date listed on the training calendar to register is the last day of the month that you may register for that training. It does not coincide with your due date or date you will start the training. Your 45 day timeline begins the day you register for the training

Credential Units: .5

Coming Soon

FSCT- Being Compliant with the First Steps Procedural Safeguards
Unrestricted Audience: Direct Service Providers and Intake/Ongoing Service Coordinators
Description: The Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities Program (Part C) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) has in place procedural safeguards that are intended to protect the rights and interests of eligible infants and toddlers and their families participating in the Early Intervention System.

The Division of Disabilities and Rehabilitative Services (DDRS), Bureau of Child Development Services (BCDS) is responsible for ensuring effective implementation of these safeguards by each early intervention provider in the state that is involved in the provision of First Steps services. The Local Planning and Coordinating Councils (LPCCs), System Points of Entry (SPOEs), and all service coordinators and direct service providers must comply with these procedural safeguards in all of their interactions with children and families.

A regular review of these safeguards is critical. This interactive, self-paced training provides participants the opportunity to complete the necessary review of the safeguards and to identify situations in which the safeguards could be unintentionally compromised. Participants will review scenarios to determine if First Steps personnel are compliant with IDEA.

Please note: There is a 45 day timeline in which to complete this training. The time to complete is to be determined
Credential Units: to be determined