Early intervention (EI) services or services of a neonatal developmental follow-up clinic
All states provide early intervention (EI) services for children under 3 years old, but the entry mechanism may vary from state to state. A best practice is to provide families of infants with prenatal opioid exposure with a referral or warm handoff to either the state’s early intervention program or a neonatal developmental follow-up clinic, if unable to directly refer to early intervention services upon discharge.
Neonatal developmental follow-up clinics focus on ensuring that certain infants and families discharged from the hospital continue to have support and ongoing assessment for developmental and behavioral needs. Specialists who work at these clinics typically include neonatologists, pediatricians, psychologists, pediatric neurologists, certified pediatric nurse practitioners, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech language pathologists, social workers, dieticians, and
lactation consultants. The commonality is that all these providers have extensive experience in caring for high-risk and premature infants.

Early intervention services may include:

• Physical therapy
• Occupational therapy
• Speech therapy
• Social skills and/or play therapy
• Disability-specific therapies, supports, or programs
• Family-based services, which may include parent training and/or therapies