Guidance for Care Navigators when a Family No-Shows their Evaluation

Referral and intake activities are completed by 1) a Care Navigator on the Early Intervention Colorado state team or 2) an intake staff member at an Early Intervention Broker (EIB) designated to complete referral and intake activities. Within this guidance document, any EI staff performing these activities is referred to as a Care Navigator.

Each evaluation entity defines a “no-show” in its evaluation contract with EI Colorado. Typically, a no-show is defined as a family not attending their evaluation without notifying their Care Navigator or evaluators or canceling within 2-24 hours of the scheduled evaluation.

While it’s a family’s right to seek an early intervention evaluation, their attendance and active participation in that evaluation are also required. Early Intervention Colorado attempts to balance a family’s needs in a way that also honors evaluators' time and state resources.

When the family does not attend their scheduled evaluation appointment for any reason other than “Evaluation Team Canceled,” the family will be responsible for contacting their Care Navigator to reschedule any subsequent evaluations. It is the family's responsibility to request another evaluation time if needed. The Care Navigator will not reach out to them to reschedule. If the evaluation was canceled due to “Evaluation Team Canceled,” one attempt to reschedule by the Care Navigator is sufficient.

Once a child’s referral is closed, a new referral can be created when needed to restart the intake process. An RSU will not be sent to the previous referral source unless the previous referral source initiates the new referral. If the parent is the one to initiate the re-referral, the Referral Source will be “Self (Parent(s)/ Legal Guardian).”

Process steps:

• The family’s Care Navigator will discuss EI CO’s evaluation rescheduling process with them during the intake call when the evaluation is scheduled.

• Evaluators or staff members at an evaluation entity should communicate to the family that the parent needs to contact the Care Navigator to reschedule the evaluation when needed. If the family does not call the Evaluation Entity to cancel the appointment, no further communication from the evaluators is required.  

• The evaluators will inform the Care Navigator when a “no-show” occurs.

• After the Care Navigator is notified of the “no-show,” they will use the “Cancel Evaluator Appointment” button on the Referral Case as soon as possible. When possible, that evaluation appointment will be re-booked for another family.

• The Care Navigator will document the “no-show” in a case note on the child’s Referral Case in the EI Data System (Salesforce). The case note should include the cancellation reason and any relevant information that the family or evaluators share.

• If the family does not contact their Care Navigator and request to reschedule an evaluation, the referral will be closed approximately one week after the missed appointment. Referrals should not be kept open longer than necessary.

Talking points for Care Navigators when speaking with families during the intake conversation:

• “If you cannot attend your child’s scheduled evaluation for any reason, you may call us back to reschedule. Otherwise, we will close the referral. You are also free to contact us in the future if you would like to move forward in the referral process.”

• “The Early Intervention Colorado program is available to all children in Colorado from birth to age three. [Discuss timelines and options as needed for any child close to the age of 3].”

Case note example for Care Navigators (individual case details will vary):

Subject: Family did not attend their evaluation

Description: The evaluation team emailed this Care Navigator to inform me that the family did not attend their scheduled evaluation. The evaluators called the family ten minutes after the evaluation was set to begin, but the family did not answer. The child’s referral case will be closed one week from today if the family does not contact me to request a reschedule.