Early Childhood

Riverside Early Intervention

Our Team of Specialists

Riverside Early Intervention provides educational, therapeutic, and supportive services to children from birth to age three experiencing (or at risk of) developmental delays. As a family-centered program, we empower families to meet their children’s individual needs through education, training, and support.

All Riverside Early Intervention team members are certified as Early Intervention Specialists by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Our team includes:

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Who is Eligible to Receive Early Intervention Services?

Parents are encouraged to call the Early Intervention program if they have concerns regarding their child’s development. Children may be eligible for services if they:

• Have been diagnosed with a physical, emotional, or cognitive condition that may result in a developmental delay
• Have feeding, vision, or hearing issues
• Are slow to crawl, sit up, walk, or talk
• Exhibit behavioral difficulties or have trouble interacting with adults or other children
• Are at risk for delays in development due to birth, health, or environmental circumstances

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Our Services

Our Early Intervention teams in Needham and Somerville work closely with families to identify each child’s strengths and developmental needs. Together, they develop an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP). The IFSP includes intervention strategies designed to assist the family in achieving desired developmental outcomes and describes the services recommended to facilitate the child’s progress.

 Each child enrolled in the program is assigned one staff member as a service coordinator. The service coordinator works closely with the family and other caregivers to develop and incorporate recommended strategies into the child and family’s daily routine. The service coordinator or the family may request periodic consultation from other team members. Treatment is provided at home, in community settings, or our Needham or Cambridge/Somerville locations. Services we offer may include:

• Home visits with program professionals
• Parent-Child Groups, Toddler Groups, and Parent Support Groups for families with eligible children
• Consultation and collaboration with other community and medical service providers
• Opportunities for non-eligible children to enroll in program-sponsored groups

View this PDF from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to learn what Early Intervention looks like (and doesn’t look like) in Massachusetts.

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Service Areas

Our Somerville Early Intervention location serves the Cambridge and Somerville communities.

Our Needham Early Intervention location serves the Newton, Needham, Wellesley, and Weston communities.

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Who Pays for Services?

Early Intervention services are paid for by private health insurance, Medicaid, and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. There are no out-of-pocket costs to families.

Riverside Early Head Start

Helping Parents & Kids Put Their Best Foot Forward

Are you preparing for a new baby, or do you have an infant or toddler in your family? Riverside Early Head Start is a comprehensive early childhood program that partners with parents to promote children’s healthy development. This in-home program features credentialed home visitors providing support in the comfort of your own home. Our services prepare children to successfully enter preschool and help families learn important parenting skills.

This program supports families by promoting healthy perinatal care, infant/toddler support, and the entire family’s well-being. The goal is to give young children a head start in their intellectual, social, and emotional development.

All of these services are free to residents of Somerville, Cambridge, and Medford

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Services provided by Riverside Early Head Start include:

• Weekly home visits focused on child development and wellness
• Parent-child playgroups and socialization activities
• Health, safety, and nutrition education
• Perinatal information and support
• Parent workshops and training

Riverside Early Head Start reflects the diversity of the community it serves. We welcome families from all cultural and ethnic backgrounds and individuals with special needs. Our staff speaks English, French, Spanish, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Hindi, Urdu, Dari, and Farsi.

Early Head Start 2025 Annual Report

Early Head Start Application: Apply Now

Para solicitar en español, presione el siguiente enlace: Haga clic aquí

Early Years Project

Driving Healthy Development

The Early Years Project (EYP) supports early education providers throughout Cambridge with classroom consultation, child development expertise, and strategies to strengthen children’s social-emotional development, learning, and relationships with teachers.

The Early Years Project welcomes referrals from all Early Education and Care (EEC) providers in the City of Cambridge, those who do not participate in the Cambridge Preschool Program, and those who do.

EYP Child Developmental Specialists are all experienced EEC teachers with additional training in promoting relational safety, social-emotional learning, and resilience. We offer child-specific and general classroom consults in infant, toddler, preschool, pre-K, and multi-age classrooms. In child-specific consults, we are usually called because of behavioral dysregulation, developmental delays, and possible neurodivergence. For general classroom consults, we address the routines, relational interactions, teaching practices, curriculum, materials, and classroom layout.  We are also available for check-ins with a Child Developmental Specialist, and access to supports and resources for families and staff when there have been major stressors such as death, accidents, and catastrophes.

The EYP process is rooted in curiosity. Our primary focus is on strengthening regulation, social-emotional literacy, and the trust between children and teachers. We learn about the child through discussions with teachers and parents, classroom observations, and interaction with the child. Together, we consider what the child brings and what their experience is, how the interaction between the child and the environment is causing the child stress and opportunities for learning, what skills the child still needs to learn for them to successfully navigate the classroom, and the most effective way for teachers to scaffold experiences for and teach the child the needed skills.