College of Education News

Illinois Early Intervention (EI) Clearinghouse has moved to the Early Childhood and Parenting Collaborative

August 1, 2009

Champaign, Illinois
For more information: illlinois-eic@illinois.edu

The Illinois Early Intervention (EI) Clearinghouse moved to the Early Childhood and Parenting Collaborative at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on October 1, 2009. Funded by the Illinois Department of Human Services, the EI Clearinghouse identifies, collects, and disseminates research-based and best-practice early intervention information (books, documents, online resources, and videos) for parents, practitioners, and early intervention professionals in the state of Illinois.

The EI Clearinghouse will use state-of- the-art technology to share information, as well as traditional formats including printed, easy-to-read newsletters and short resource lists of new materials. Library materials will be delivered to parents and professionals by mail and through the statewide library delivery system. The range of products produced by the EI Clearinghouse - from easy-to-read print newsletters and resource lists (in Spanish and English), to Podcasts and RSS feeds - will ensure that the EI Clearinghouse can respond to information requests from parents and professionals regardless of the technology available to them.

Principal Investigator and Project Coordinator for the EI Clearinghouse is Dr. Susan Fowler, a nationally recognized scholar in the field of early intervention. Other distinguished faculty will serve on the staff of the EI Clearinghouse and on its Advisory Committee, including Dr. Tweety Yates, Dr. Jeanette McCollum, Dr. Lilian Katz, Dr. Rosa Milagros Santos, Dr. Michaelene Ostrosky, and Dr. Mary-Alayne Hughes. The participation of these scholars and content experts, many of whom are well known to the Illinois early intervention community, will assure that the EI Clearinghouse library collection and database are of the highest possible quality and responsive to the needs of Illinois families in the Early Intervention Program.

The Early Childhood and Parenting Collaborative (ECAP), within the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is well respected both nationally and in the state for its understanding of early intervention and its impact on families. Uniquely qualified to assume the management and expansion of the EI Clearinghouse, ECAP is affiliated with the Lincoln Trail Libraries System and has won awards for providing information services to parents and families, as well as early childhood professionals, in similar projects. ECAP has developed and maintained more than two dozen Web sites in the topical areas of early childhood and parenting since the early 1990s and has demonstrated its expertise in outreach to the state's early childhood community, including parents and families, through other state-funded projects, most notably the Illinois Early Learning Project.

The EI Clearinghouse will be housed at the Children's Research Center at 51 Gerty Drive in Champaign, at the south end of the University of Illinois campus in an area with ample parking. The EI Clearinghouse is expected to be fully operational by October 1, 2009.