The Hektoen Institute for Medical Research and Child and Family Connections #9 has been part of the Illinois Early Intervention Program for over 20 years, consistently providing public awareness, child find efforts, provider recruitment and collaboration for children (ages 0-3) with disabilities and their families to enter the Illinois Early Intervention system. As an independent agency, CFC #9 provides all activities related to service coordination, parent liaison and transition activities for early intervention at no cost. CFC #9 serves the central-west region of Chicago, a population that is comprised largely of families falling within Federal poverty standards and the majorities served are minorities and medically underserved.

Appreciating the complexity of needs that stress the families in our service area, together, we have instituted a comprehensive model in our approach when we initially designed the structure of our program to integrate the experience of pediatrics, psychology, and social work to comprehensively address the medical, developmental, and social-emotional/interpersonal health of the children and families referred to our program.