Syracuse, NY – Last night, during his State of the County address, Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon announced the launch of the Early Childhood Developmental Screening Challenge. In partnership with the Early Childhood Alliance (ECA), County Executive McMahon challenged Onondaga County families with young children (birth through five years of age) to complete two (2) developmental screens at bit.ly/HMGScreeningChallenge for a chance to win $250.
“This challenge empowers parents to proactively monitor their children’s development and ensure they’re reaching key developmental milestones,” McMahon said. “Onondaga County is invested in this challenge because we want to support all parents in being their children’s first and best teachers.”
All families who complete both a developmental (ASQ®-3) and a social-emotional (ASQ®:SE-2) screen at bit.ly/HMGScreeningChallenge by Saturday, April 30 will be entered in a raffle for one-of-two $250 gift cards. The Screening Challenge is part of the ECA’s Help Me Grow Onondaga (HMG Onondaga) initiative, a national model that provides families with evidence-based screening tools to help monitor their children’s development and identify/address concerns early. Families with multiple children under the age of five are encouraged to screen each child, but each family will only receive one raffle entry. Each child’s screening results will be shared with his or her family. If a child is not meeting expected milestones, HMG Onondaga will support his or her family in accessing the range of resources and supports available to support optimal development.
According to ECA Director Laurie Black, developmental screening provides critical information on how children are doing as they grow and plays an important role in early detection and linkage to appropriate supports for children who may be experiencing delays or challenges. This is especially important given so many parents having concerns about the impact of the pandemic on their children’s overall development.
“The first five years of a child’s life are critical for building the foundation needed for success in school and life,” Black said. “Help Me Grow Onondaga, an initiative of the Early Childhood Alliance, can help families determine if a child’s development is on track and address any concerns as early as possible to have the greatest impact.”
HMG Onondaga utilizes the Ages & Stages Questionnaires® (ASQ®-3 and ASQ®:SE-2), a set of free questionnaires that parents complete online to provide a quick look at how their children are developing. The ASQ®-3 measures a child’s progress in five important developmental areas: communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem solving, and personal-social. The ASQ®:SE-2 is utilized to monitor a child’s social-emotional development. Both screens can help identify a child’s strengths and weaknesses, and it is important that parents complete both to get a full picture of their child’s development.
“We’re so excited to launch this screening challenge and to give parents and caregivers the tools to track their child’s development,” said Summer Merrick, Director of HMG Onondaga. “Parents are active partners in their children’s early learning and development, and by completing ASQ® questionnaires, they’re making sure their children are off to the best possible start.”
