Cross-System Communication in Early Childhood Settings in the United States: An Exploratory Study Using the National Survey of Children’s Health

Communication between a child’s health care provider, child care and other community providers (cross-system communication) may facilitate access and referral to early intervention (EI). This study examined (a) factors associated with cross-system communication and (b) whether cross-system communication was associated with receiving EI among U.S. toddlers ages 1 to 2 years. This study used data from the National Survey of Children’s Health 2016 and included 1,184 children of ages 1 to 2 years, whose parents indicated a need for cross-system communication. Dependent variable was having an EI plan. Primary independent variable was cross-system communication. Children who had cross-system communication had almost three times (2.9) higher odds of receiving EI services as compared to those who did not have cross-system communication (odds ratio [OR] = 2.9, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.2, 6.9, p = .014). This study found that cross-system communication was associated with receiving EI services for U.S. children of ages 1 to 2 years.