Developmental and social-emotional screening of young children (0-5 years of age) in Minnesota

This is the website of the Minnesota Interagency Developmental Screening Task Force which is focused on screening of young children. It a partnership of the Minnesota Departments of Education (MDE), Health (MDH) and Human Services (DHS) (Minnesota Statutes 121A.17 Sub 3 (b).

The Task Force’s goals are:

• Statewide coordination of screening efforts.
• Establish criteria for developmental (cognition, fine and gross motor skills, speech, and language) and social-emotional screening instrument selection.
• Provide a psychometric review of developmental and social-emotional screening instruments recommended or approved for use in Minnesota's public screening programs.
• Develop a list of recommended and/or approved developmental and social-emotional screening instruments.

For more information about the Task Force, see Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) (PDF). Send Task Force Question to: health.childteencheckups@state.mn.us.

This site provides information for screening professionals about the importance of screening, recommendations on instruments to use, and resources to make appropriate referrals to improve outcomes for children from birth through five years of age in Minnesota.

Public screening programs (such as Head Start, local public health programs, school districts, and others) should refer to Recommended Instruments at a Glance (PDF) to identify screening tools that meet the criteria for use in their programs. For the C&TC clinic setting, refer to Developmental and Social – Emotional Screening in the Clinic Setting.

For related information not addressed by the Task Force:

• Mental health screening for 6-21 year-olds, refer to Detailed Comparison Table of Approved Mental Health Screening Instruments (PDF)
• Postpartum depression screening, refer to the Maternal Depression section on the DHS Screening webpage, the MDH Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders and Perinatal Mental Health - Information for Health Professionals webpages.