Children and Youth with Special Health Needs (CYSHN)
Programs
- Birth Defects Monitoring and Analysis
- Early Hearing Detection and Intervention
- Follow Along Program
- Longitudinal Follow-up for Newborn Screening Conditions
Related Sites
Contact Info
Follow Along Program
The Follow Along Program is a free program offered through local public health departments that helps families track their child’s development and connect to support if needed. Families receive short questionnaires about their child’s development along with activity ideas and information about typical growth and learning. Local public health staff review the results with families and can help connect children and families to additional resources if needed.
It is a simple way for families to:
- Learn about their child’s health and development.
- Track how their child is growing, learning, and communicating.
- Get ideas for activities to support learning through play.
- Ask questions about their child’s hearing, movement, speech, learning, and behavior.
- Connect with local resources if developmental concerns arise.
Young children grow and develop quickly. Early childhood developmental screenings help parents understand how their child is developing and growing. In Minnesota, many programs support early childhood development, including the Follow Along Program. Health care providers, early learning programs, and community services may all provide developmental screening and guidance for families. Screenings give parents more tools to understand and support their child’s growth and development. The earlier you have your child screened the more time you have to address any needs and set them up for success.
Screening can help:
- Identify children who may benefit from additional support.
- Give families information about typical development at different ages.
- Provide ideas for activities that support learning through everyday play.
- Connect families with community services if concerns arise.
- Local public health staff, often a nurse or early childhood professional, help coordinate the program.
- Families receive questionnaires when their child reaches certain ages, usually between 1 month and 3 years (and sometimes up to 5 years, depending on the county).
- Each questionnaire asks about how your child is growing, playing, talking, moving, and learning. An example questionnaire (PDF) is available.
- Families also receive handouts with fun activities to try with their child.
- After you return the questionnaire, local public health staff review the results and share them with you.
- If there are any concerns about development, local public health staff may contact you to talk about next steps or connect you with other services.
When your child is around 3 years old, you will also receive information about Early Childhood Screening.
No. The Follow Along Program is free. There are no requirements related to citizenship, immigration status, or income, and participation does not affect public charge status.
The program may be especially helpful for families who:
- Want an easy way to track their child’s development over time.
- Would like activity ideas and guidance about early learning and development.
- Are not already receiving regular developmental screening through another program.
- Want to connect with their local public health department for child development support.
When might another program be a better fit?
Some children may already receive developmental screening or services through programs such as Help Me Grow Minnesota, Early Childhood Special Education, Family Home Visiting, Head Start, or regular well-child visits. If your child is already receiving screening through another program, your local public health department or an early childhood professional can help you decide whether the Follow Along Program is a good fit.
If you are concerned about how your child is learning or growing, talk with your child’s health care provider and consider contacting Help Me Grow Minnesota for an evaluation to determine if your child is eligible for Infant and Toddler Intervention or Preschool Special Education services.
Help Me Grow Minnesota also has many resources about the development of young children, including information on developmental milestones; YouTube videos; caregiver strategies to support development, screening, and evaluation; and how to talk about developmental concerns.
How do I sign up?
The Follow Along Program is run by local public health departments across Minnesota. Enroll online or select your county on the map below to find your local Follow Along Program contact information and learn how to enroll.
For additional program information, contact the state program coordinator at health.cyshn@state.mn.us or toll free 1-800-728-5420.
For local coordinators and other professionals
The Healthy Beginnings, Healthy Families Act funded a community engagement team consisting of people with special health needs and disabilities, local public health, interagency state partners, and other follow along program partners to review resources and strategies for families that participate in the Follow Along Program or are eligible to participate. The team met monthly in 2024 and 2025 and provided feedback to inform program updates.
Eight community connector organizations across Minnesota were also funded through June 2026. Staff at these organizations offered culturally and linguistically inclusive outreach and navigation support to families as they enrolled in and engaged with the Follow Along Program. Organizations included Baby's Space, Centro Tyrone Guzman, Change, Inc., FamilyWise, Healthy Community Initiative, Project FINE, Restoration for All, Inc., and the Steele County community health board.
Final summative reports from the two groups are available:
- Community engagement reflections (PDF)
- Community connector summative report (PDF)
Follow Along Program coordinator resources have moved to the CYSHN Local Public Health Partner Resources webpage. There you can find the materials order form, a link to the Ages and Stages resource library, information about the transition to ASQ online, and other resources. Additional materials are on SharePoint. If you need SharePoint access, please reach out to health.cyshn@state.mn.us with "local public health" in the subject line.