Iowa’s UCEDD Makes Care for Kids Happen

The Center for Disabilities and Development (CDD), Iowa’s UCEDD, manages the state’s Early and Periodic, Screening Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) Health Provider Information and Training Program. Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) benefits are intended to ensure a continuum of care for infants, children and adolescents, with and without disabilities, who are eligible for Medicaid.

In Iowa, EPSDT benefits are administered by the “Care for Kids” program. Through an ongoing contract with the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, CDD manages “Care for Kids” to help keep providers well prepared to take care of the kids who receive Medicaid’s EPSDT wellness benefits. The EPSDT Health Provider Information and Training program at CDD is run by a blended team. Clinical staff include one of CDD’s developmental behavioral nurse practitioners, a general pediatrician, and family medicine physician from Iowa Health Care. UCEDD program staff on the team administer the contract deliverables and convene a statewide interagency workgroup. In addition to providing training, the team maintains the Care for Kids website and publishes the Care for Kids newsletter three times a year.

The Fall 2024 issue of the EPSDT Care for Kids newsletter has been published. The lead article, “Closing the Prevention Gap: Promoting Health Supervision Visits in Children,” was written by Temitope Awelewa, MBCHB, MPH, IBCLC, FAAP, Clinical Associate Professor, Stead Family Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa Health Care. Dr. Awelewa serves as the general pediatrician on the team. And she is Executive Editor of the EPSDT Care for Kids newsletter.

Her article explores the important role well child visits play in children’s development. It includes examples of universal screenings, and the newly updated Iowa EPSDT Periodicity Schedule, another deliverable of CDD’s Care for Kids contract.

Read the Fall 2024 issue of the newsletter: https://www.iowaepsdt.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/EPSDT-Fall24_Web.pdf

Visit the Iowa EPSDT Care for Kids website: https://www.iowaepsdt.org/

For more information about Iowa’s “Care for Kids” program, get in touch with Meredith Field at [email protected].