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  • Foundations Series include three courses that provide the foundation of Early Start requirements, procedures, and practices. They are offered three times a year and may be taken in any order. See the 2024-2025 training schedule for the session dates. Because each course is time-consuming, we limit the amount of facilitated courses you can register for each session to two . Please do not register for more than two facilitated courses per session. You may register for any two Foundations Series courses during the registration period by clicking on the Products Catalog below.

    The course Transition from Early Start covers all aspects of a child and family's transition from Early Start in a flexible, self-paced format. This course increases knowledge and awareness of the roles, responsibilities, and requirements of all parties involved in a child's transition at age three. Individuals may register at any time and proceed through the course at their own pace. Enroll in the non facilitated, open access course Transition from Early Start.

    Skill Base courses provide content to help Early Start providers support development within specific developmental domains for the children with specific disability conditions. These courses are offered three times a year. See the 2023-2024 training schedule for the session dates. Because each course is time-consuming, we limit the amount of facilitated courses you can register for each session to two. Please do not register for more than two facilitated courses per session. You may register for any two Skill Base courses during the registration period by clicking on the Products Catalog below.

    Special Topics courses are not facilitated and are intended to address specific priorities of the Department of Developmental Services. You may register for as many Special Topics courses as you like and can be taken any time of the year.

    Hearing Assessment: Decisions and Documentation for Early Start describes evidence-based hearing screening practices, procedures for monitoring the hearing status of children in Early Start, and describes the steps through which service coordinators support families from newborn hearing screening to diagnostic, evaluation and audiological follow up. Find here.

    The Cultural Humility Series provides content and activities addressing the systemic racial/cultural inequities in service delivery/systems, cultural competencies for service delivery, and the integration of reflection and new knowledge into practice for early intervention service providers in California. The series is archived in four related mini-courses in Early Start Online:

    The Wellness, Mental Health, and Resilience Series concentrated on strategies for preventing, recognizing, and addressing stressors for children, families, and professionals, especially stressors arising from the pandemic. These webinars can be found in the Early Start Neighborhood.

    Early Start Partners Symposium Mini-Courses are recorded breakout sessions that are available for anyone to watch. These mini-courses contain the recorded session and any relevant handouts are activities. Three ESPS 2024 sessions are available as mini courses:

    Need Help?

    Early Start Online participants, please submit a help ticket to ES Online Help. Someone will respond to you within 2 business days.

    For assistance with user accounts or lesson functionality, contact

    Early Start Online offers multi-modal personnel development, integrating evidence-based content with interactive learning technologies to facilitate efficient, widespread delivery of training to personnel working with children and families.

    The California Early Intervention Technical Assistance Network (CEITAN) at WestEd provides program development, training and technical assistance, and evaluation services designed to support capacity building and improve state and local systems of support. The ultimate goal? Improved outcomes for children and youth with developmental delays or disabilities, from birth through postsecondary graduation, and their families. 

    For more information about Early Start training, technical assistance, and resources and about CEITAN, visit the Early Start Neighborhood.