First Steps Early Intervention Services

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Executive Summary

First Steps Early Intervention Services is a nonprofit in Georgia that helps infants and toddlers with developmental delays. Licensed therapists visit families at home and coach parents to support their child's movement, speech and learning during the years when the brain is growing fastest. Families can start with a free screening.

Early help can make a big difference, but many families wait months to be seen and many never receive a screening. With this grant we will pay for a licensed pediatric therapist and the screening tools and supplies they use. Therapy is not a substitute for medical care, and we cannot promise that any child will catch up. We refer families to their pediatrician and to the state's early intervention system, and we help them follow up.

What we are asking for. Our program has a Year 1 budget of about $294,000. We are asking for $68,000 from a children's fund to a licensed therapist salary and screening and therapy supplies. The rest of the budget comes from other grants, sponsors and donors that are listed in the funding section. Every dollar amount in this plan is an estimate and none of it is a promise of any result for the people we serve.

Company Description

First Steps Early Intervention Services is a nonprofit organization recognized under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, governed by a volunteer board that includes parents of children with delays. The board meets monthly, approves the budget and oversees the executive director. A new organization without its own determination letter can use a fiscal sponsor, explained in the funding section.

What we believe. Parents are a child's first and best teachers. We respect each family's culture, language and goals and put the child's safety first.

What we do:
- Developmental screening. Simple, validated screenings for infants and toddlers at clinics, child care centers and events.
- Home-based therapy. Licensed therapists visit the family at home and coach parents during everyday routines.
- Family navigation. A navigator helps families understand evaluations, insurance and the state early intervention system.
- Referrals. We refer children to pediatricians, specialists and public programs when needed.

Licensing and scope. Therapy is provided only by licensed therapists working within their license. We do not diagnose medical conditions and we do not replace a child's doctor or the public early intervention program.

Who we serve. Families with children from birth to age three with a developmental delay or at risk of one, with priority for families with low incomes.

Our board has at least five members, including at least one person who has used our services or lives in the community we serve, and only a minority of board members may be related to each other or paid by the organization.

We keep a written conflict of interest policy, a whistleblower policy and a record retention policy, and the board reviews them every year.

Problem & Opportunity

Many young children with delays are not getting help early.

1. Missed screenings. Many children are never screened before school age.
2. Long waits. Evaluations and therapy can take months to schedule.
3. Hard-to-navigate systems. Parents face forms, insurance rules and different agencies.
4. Transportation and work. Parents struggle to take a child to clinics on weekdays.
5. Language barriers. Families who speak languages other than English may not find services.

Why it matters now. The early years are a time of rapid brain growth, and services started early can help children make progress and enter school better prepared.

How we know the need is real. We reviewed the number of infants and toddlers referred for evaluation and how many were served in our region, talked to 30 families and asked pediatricians what they need. Pediatricians said they would refer more families if there was a home-based option with short waits. The numbers are in the appendix.

We update these facts every year using public data, partner reports and what the people we serve tell us, and we change the program when the facts change. If a need turns out to be smaller than we thought, we will say so and put the money where it is needed most.

Products & Services

What the funded project will do. With this grant we will pay for a licensed pediatric therapist, screening tools and therapy supplies for a full year.

How a family takes part:
1. Screening or referral. A family asks for a screening, or a pediatrician or child care provider refers them.
2. Navigation. The navigator explains options, helps with the state early intervention system and insurance forms and schedules a visit.
3. Home visits. A licensed therapist visits weekly or every other week and shows parents activities to practice in daily routines.
4. Progress checks. The therapist reviews progress with parents and the pediatrician with the family's consent.
5. Transition. At age three, we help the family move to preschool services.

What the grant pays for. The request covers the therapist's salary and screening tools and supplies.

What we do not promise. We do not promise that any child will catch up or meet a milestone by a certain age. We report progress honestly and refer families to other services when needed.

Safety and privacy. Therapists pass background checks and follow home-visit safety rules, never leave a child unattended, and report suspected abuse or neglect as the law requires. We keep records private and share them only with consent. We call 911 for emergencies. We tell parents when to call the child's doctor.

We start small, check what works and grow only when we can do the work well. Every few months we review the numbers and the stories from the people we serve and change the plan where it is not working.

We write plain-language handouts for every step so people know what to expect, what it costs and who to call with questions, and we ask each person at the end whether the help was useful and what we could do better.

Market Analysis

Who benefits from this project are infants and toddlers in our service area with developmental delays and their families.

Who we serve. Children from birth to age three, most from families with low incomes, many who have not had a screening, and many whose parents speak a language other than English.

How many people we plan to serve. In Year 1 we plan to screen about 500 children and provide home-based therapy to about 90 children. By Year 5 we plan to screen about 800 children and serve about 200 children a year in therapy. We chose these numbers from the capacity of two therapists at first and three by the third year.

Where we serve. The city and surrounding counties, with home visits within a reasonable drive.

Who else benefits. Parents who gain skills and confidence, pediatricians and child care providers who gain a referral partner and schools that receive better-prepared children.

How we will be careful. We screen with validated tools, we share results only with the family and with their permission and we do not label children.

We choose how many people to serve from the number of staff, hours and rooms we really have, not from the size of the need. If we reach fewer people than planned, we will report it and explain why.

Competitive Landscape

Other choices in our area.

1. The state early intervention program. Provides services at no cost but can have waits and limited capacity.
2. Private therapy clinics. Provide care but are costly and often have waiting lists.
3. Pediatricians' offices. Provide screening but limited follow-up.
4. Public preschool special education. Serves children starting at age three.
5. Other nonprofits.

What makes us different. We offer fast, home-based, parent-coached therapy and help families navigate the system. We work with the state program and refer families to it. We do not replace it.

How we avoid duplication. We have agreements with the state early intervention office and pediatric practices on referrals, and we share progress with the family's consent.

We keep a written list of every other organization that does similar work in our area and review it each year. If another group can serve a person better, we refer the person and say so plainly. Funders can expect us to tell the truth about overlap, to share what we learn and to work as part of a larger network of help.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How we will reach families once the project is funded.

Referral partners. Pediatricians, child care centers, home visiting programs, shelters and WIC offices will refer families, and we give each partner a short guide and a direct phone number.

Community screening events. We will hold free screening days at libraries, churches and clinics.

Word of mouth. Parents tell other parents. With permission, we share stories.

Digital outreach. A website and social media will explain the signs of delays, list screening dates and give a simple way to ask for help. We will not post identifiable photos of children without written permission.

Access. We provide materials in English and Spanish and use interpreters, schedule visits at times that fit work and offer video visits when appropriate.

Measuring outreach. We will track how each family heard about us and adjust our outreach where it is not working.

Marketing budget. Outreach and printing are part of the program budget.

Most people hear about services from someone they already trust, so we spend more time with partners and neighbors than on advertising. We write our materials in plain language, test them with a few people from the community and fix anything that confuses them.

Operations Plan

How the project will be carried out, in plain terms.

Timeline for Year 1. Months 1 and 2: hire the therapist, sign partner agreements and buy equipment and screening tools. Months 3 to 12: hold screening events, start home visits and review progress.

Space. Therapists work in families' homes with portable equipment, and screening events are held at partner sites.

Partners. Pediatric practices, child care centers, home visiting programs and the state early intervention office. Each has a written agreement.

Safety and privacy rules. Therapists hold the licenses their work requires, pass background checks and follow written home-visit rules. Records are kept secure and shared only with consent or as the law requires. We report suspected abuse and neglect as the law requires. We call 911 in emergencies. We never give medical diagnoses.

Equipment. Portable equipment kits are cleaned between homes.

Records and reporting. We track children screened, referrals and visits, and report to funders each quarter.

Training. Staff receive training in child development, family-centered practice and cultural humility.

We write down every step of the project in a short manual so that any trained staff member can carry it out the same way. We hold a short team meeting every week to review problems, safety concerns and numbers, and we ask the people we serve for feedback at least twice a year.

Management & Organization

The executive director leads the organization and manages the budget and partners. Licensed pediatric therapists deliver the home visits, and the family navigator helps families with forms, insurance and referrals.

The team. Pay figures include payroll taxes and workers' compensation insurance. The numbers in parentheses are how many people we plan to have in Years 1 through 5.
- Executive Director: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 (Years 1 to 5), about $62,000 a year each.
- Licensed Pediatric Therapist: 2, 2, 3, 3, 3 (Years 1 to 5), about $62,000 a year each.
- Family Navigator: 1, 1, 1, 1, 2 (Years 1 to 5), about $42,000 a year each.

Governance and money controls. A volunteer board of directors oversees the budget and the executive director. Two people review every payment, the board reviews financial statements every month, an outside accountant prepares the yearly tax return and audit-ready records, and every grant is tracked in its own budget line. We screen staff and volunteers who work with the people we serve, train everyone on privacy and safety and keep written policies on conflicts of interest and complaints.

Staff and advisors. Therapists hold the licenses required in Georgia, and we welcome staff who speak the languages of our families. An advisory group of parents, a pediatrician, a child care director and a speech language pathologist meets quarterly.

Feedback and complaints. Anyone we serve can give feedback or a complaint by phone, in writing or in person, and can ask to speak with the board chair. We reply within five working days, keep a log of every complaint and report the themes to the board each quarter. No one loses services for speaking up.

Milestones Narrative

Goals for each of the first five years and how we will measure results. These are goals, not promises.
- Before the grant starts (2 to 3 months before the grant starts): hire and credential the therapist, sign partner agreements, buy equipment and screening tools and plan the first screening events
- Year 1: screen about 500 children and provide home therapy to about 90 children. The budget is $294,000.
- Year 2: hire a third therapist and add bilingual staff. The budget is $297,000.
- Year 3: add a family support group and expand screening sites. The budget is $363,500.
- Year 4: grow referrals from pediatricians. The budget is $366,500.
- Year 5: screen about 800 children and serve about 200 children a year in therapy. The budget is $413,000.

How we will measure results: children screened, children referred, children in therapy, family goals met as reported by parents, time from referral to first visit and parent satisfaction. We report results to funders in the same plain numbers we use here, and we say honestly when a goal was missed and what we changed.

We report to funders every quarter and send a short plain-language summary to our board each month. At the end of each year we review all of the goals, publish a short results report and update the plan for the next year.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $68,000 from a children's fund for a licensed therapist salary and screening and therapy supplies, for January through December 2027.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: Licensed pediatric therapist salary, $62,000.
- Supplies: Screening tools and therapy supplies, $6,000 (other funds add $2,000).

Other money in the program. This request is about 27% of our Year 1 grant income. Other grants and the income lines below pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $294,000, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $10,400 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: grant revenue $248,000; individual donations $26,000; program fees and insurance reimbursements $20,000. Year 1 costs: executive director $62,000; licensed pediatric therapist $124,000; family navigator $42,000; therapy equipment, toys and supplies about $14,000; mileage and home visit costs about $12,000; screening tools and training about $6,000; interpreter services about $8,000; administration and insurance about $14,000.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $17,400 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $4,200 for portable therapy equipment kits for home visits, $3,800 for laptops, tablets and a secure records system, $3,000 for developmental screening tools and training, $1,600 for background checks and licensing verification, $2,600 for policy review and legal setup, and $2,200 for brochures in english and spanish and a simple website.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($17,400), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $2,700) and a cash cushion of about $70,500, which is about 3 months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $91,000. We start with $18,000 of our own savings and $74,500 in startup support from a local foundation and our board, $92,500 in all, which covers that amount with room to spare.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $294,000 in Year 1 to about $413,000 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $248,000, $237,000, $289,500, $278,500, $311,000 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows as sponsors and donors join. The program plans a small surplus each year, about $10,400, $10,400, $11,700, $11,300 and $12,400 in Years 1 to 5, which we put into savings.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $81,800, at the end of Year 1. Some grant payments and partner payments arrive after we bill, so we plan for about $14,700 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

After the grant. Individual donors and insurance and program fees grow each year, so grants become a smaller share. Pediatric practices and the state program may help fund services over time.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- A therapist may leave. We cross-train and keep a list of qualified substitutes.
- Referrals may be slower than expected. We add partners and hold screening events.
- A grant may end. We grow donors and fees each year and keep savings.
- A family may miss visits. We offer flexible times and video visits.
- A privacy mistake could occur. We limit what we collect and train everyone.

If you are just starting. A new organization can begin before it has its own 501(c)(3) status through a fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for you and passes them to your program, usually for a fee (commonly around 5% to 10% of the grant, sometimes more; ask before you agree). Another way is to start smaller with one site or one staff member and track results carefully. Strong results from a small start make larger grants easier to win.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach before you send this proposal:

- Your IRS determination letter showing 501(c)(3) status, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your board list and board minutes approving the application.
- Your most recent budget and financial statements.
- A list of other funders and what each has given or been asked to give.
- Therapists' licenses and professional liability insurance.
- Written agreements with pediatricians and the state early intervention office.
- Your screening protocol and privacy policy.
- Letters of support from families and pediatricians.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Grant Revenue: $248,000 in Year 1, growing to $311,000 in Year 5.
- Individual Donations: $26,000 in Year 1, growing to $50,000 in Year 5.
- Program Fees and Insurance Reimbursements: $20,000 in Year 1, growing to $52,000 in Year 5.
- Staff pay is shown in the management section and includes payroll taxes and workers' compensation.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: therapy equipment, toys and supplies $14,000, mileage and home visit costs $12,000, screening tools and training $6,000, interpreter services $8,000, and administration and insurance $14,000. These grow between 4% and 6% a year as the program grows.
- Grant and partner payments arrive after we bill, so about $14,700 (5% of Year 1 income) is owed to us at the end of Year 1.
- The program does not pay income tax. Any surplus stays in the program.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your organization's real numbers.

Plain words used in this proposal:
- Grant: money given for a specific purpose that does not have to be paid back, as long as it is spent as promised.
- Request: the part of the budget we are asking this funder to pay for.
- Surplus: money left over after a year's costs. A small surplus is healthy because it builds savings for slow months.
- Startup costs: one-time costs, such as equipment, paid once before the program runs at full speed.
- Working capital: cash kept in the bank to pay bills while waiting for grant payments.
- In-kind: goods or services given instead of money, such as donated space.
- Fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for a new group and passes the money to its program, usually for a fee.
- 501(c)(3): the tax status that lets a nonprofit receive tax-deductible gifts and many grants.

How to read the numbers. Every income and cost figure is a plan, not a result. Income rises as sponsors and donors join, costs rise a little each year, and each year's budget is planned to balance with a small surplus. Startup costs are shown separately because they are paid once. If a real number turns out different, we will update the plan and tell our funders why.

Startup Costs