Developmental Therapy to Behavioral Support: UofM is Set to Make a Major Impact in 2024 and Beyond
UofM College of Education receives $9.2 million for childhood early intervention services
The UofM’s College of Education (COE), receiving over $9 million dollars in combined support from Tennessee’s Department of Disability and Aging (DDA) and Tennessee’s Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (MHSAS), is poised to be a leader in the provision of early intervention (EI) services and parent training for young children and families in Shelby County over the next several years.
The DDA provided approximately $8.8 million dollars to continue funding for Project Memphis (PM)’s two grants that provide EI services and MHSAS provided nearly $500,000 for the Regional Intervention Program to provide parent support for children with behavioral concerns. This funding allows parents with children who qualify for services either at one of PM’s grants or RIP to receive therapy for free.
The benefits of receiving early intervention and therapy in the formative years is well supported by decades of research acknowledging the interwoven connectedness between enhancing children’s adaptive, social-emotional, cognitive, physical, and communicative abilities early on and the child’s academic and lifelong success. PM and RIP have a long history on campus of serving families of young children with developmental delays and disabilities and behavioral concerns.
However, PM has transitioned and grown over the years expanding well beyond its original reach to include both a home and community wing (referred to as PM HC) and a center-based group therapy developmental therapy wing (referred to as PM Ready). PM HC will now serve approximately 450 families annually with children aged 0-5 with a developmental delay or disability as recognized by the Tennessee Early Intervention System (TEIS). PM Ready will now be able to provide services to approximately 50 children.
For information, to learn more about Project Memphis or have questions about eligibility or enrolling, contact the project director, Charmaine Sego at cssego@memphis.edu, or visit https://www.tn.gov/disability-and-aging/disability-aging-programs/teis/family-resources.html.
For RIP, contact Jenny Davis at jdavis67@memphis.edu, or visit: https://www.memphis.edu/icl/centers_services/rip/index.php
If interested in learning more about Porter-Leath and their state-of-the-art early childhood programming, go to https://www.porterleath.org/.
