Screening Explained

What is Screening?

• Brief, simple procedure used to identify infants and young children who may be at risk for potential health, developmental, or social-emotional problems. It identifies children who may need a health assessment, diagnostic assessment, or educational evaluation.
• Uses a standardized instrument (observational or parent report) validated by research to learn more about the child's development. This is more effective for identifying  concerns or delays than using professional judgment or informal questions about the child's development. Refer to the Developmental and Social-Emotional Screening in Early Childhood Fact Sheet (PDF) and the Autism Spectrum Disorder Screening Fact Sheet (PDF) for more information.
• Provides an opportunity for young children and their families to access a wide variety of services and early childhood programs and promotes and supports parents' understanding of their child's health, development, and learning.

Developmental Screening

Developmental screening identifies children at risk for cognitive, motor, communication, or social-emotional delays. These delays may interfere with expected growth, learning, and development and may warrant further diagnosis, assessment, and evaluation.

Developmental screening instruments include the domains of:

• cognition
• fine and gross motor skills
• speech and language
• social-emotional development

Social-Emotional Screening

Social-emotional screening is a component of developmental screening of young children that focuses on a child's ability to:

• Express and regulate emotions
• Form close and secure relationships
• Explore their environment and learn

Separate social-emotional screening is needed for young children, since it is not adequately addressed in general developmental screening instruments. For children under age 6 years, social-emotional screening is synonymous with mental health screening.

Mental Health Screening

Mental health screening is the early identification of children at risk for possible mental health disorders that may interfere with expected growth, learning, and development and may warrant further diagnosis, assessment, and evaluation.