Early Steps
The Southwest Florida Early Steps program serves infants and toddlers in Collier, Glades, Hendry, and Lee Counties. The Southwest Florida Early Steps program is part of the Florida Early Steps program.
Florida's Early Intervention Program is improving its service delivery system to better support infants and toddlers and their families - in places where they live, learn and play. An enhanced family-focused early intervention system called Early Steps has replaced the former Infants & Toddlers Early Intervention Program with a new Mission, Vision and Values.
MISSION 
The Florida Early Intervention System, through collaborative community partnerships and investments, ensures that infants and toddlers with special needs and their families achieve their full potential in the context of everyday relationships, activities and places.
VISION
Florida’s infants, toddlers, young children and their families will have access to high quality, integrated supports and services to meet their unique needs.
VALUES
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Family-centered – We recognize that the family is the foundation from which all individuals grow and all definitions of “family” are to be recognized and respected.
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Partnership – We forge partnerships through in-house and inter-agency work groups, implementation of the concept of shared-governance and collaboration with other agencies and programs to strengthen and enhance the services we provide.
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Respect – Each individual is valued and treated with respect through recognition of the talents, experience and opinions that they bring to each task. Each family is unique and we value and honor the ethnic and cultural diversity.
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Community-based – We recognize the uniqueness of each community’s population, resources, cultural diversity and needs and respond to this uniqueness in the design and development of a service delivery system that is responsive to each community.
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Individualized – We recognize that each individual and their family are special and have unique relationships, concerns, resources, and priorities. We strive to provide a program that responds to the characteristics and needs of each child and the child’s family.
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Continuous Improvement – We strive to achieve program quality and accountability through a data driven continuous improvement quality assurance process that emphasizes follow-up, training and technical assistance.
For more on program eligibility, program policies, and other important information, go to http://www.cms-kids.com/EarlyStepsHome.htm
