Early Intervention Program (EIP)

Young children whose emotional development is at-risk need assistance with their emotional life. The Early Intervention Program (EIP) provides solutions for many children ages 3 through 6 and their parents. Mental health professionals and educators oversee a comprehensive program that has become a national standard for helping at-risk children. The EIP addresses each family's strengths and needs, enabling children and parents to develop deeper communication and relationships as the basis of positive change in emotions and behavior.

Children attend preschool for three hours daily, or kindergarten for four hours daily, five days a week, for an eleven-month school year.

Two bachelors or masters level teacher-therapists lead each classroom generally of six to eight children. On occasions, we work with slightly larger groups. The classrooms provide a challenging curriculum along with specialized emotional and social support. Our strong partnership with parents grows out of daily parent-teacher discussions and weekly guidance sessions with a parent therapist. Teachers and mental health staff meet daily to discuss how best to help each child. The teamwork that is established is the basis for the impressive growth that children in the Early Intervention Program typically achieve.

We followed up with our graduates after the program was underway for 10 years.  We were able to obtain information on about three-quarters of all of our graduates. With the exception of two children with unrelated special problems, all children entered and had successfully remained in conventional classrooms.

Take a look at some videos on the Early Intervention Program:

Getting started is simple: We ask parents to complete our Request for Consultation form and submit as directed. If you have questions before taking this step, we would be pleased to talk with you. Please call the Center at 919.677.1400, and we will arrange a phone discussion with one of our senior staff.

We will review your Request for Consultation promptly, and you can expect to hear back from us within several working days. We will arrange a first meeting with you in which we will mutually decide whether to proceed with a fuller assessment of your child's needs. We will offer our recommendations about the best way to help your child develop to his or her fullest potential. Sometimes the Early Intervention Program will offer the most appropriate program for your child, and sometimes other interventions will be better suited to assist you and your child.