California Early Start · Birth to 36 months

Every child deserves a bright beginning.

Compassionate developmental assessments and early intervention support for infants and toddlers, designed around your child and your family.

Request an Assessment Refer a Child
  • No Diagnosis Needed

Need help? Call (844) 700-9889

A laughing toddler in a light blue shirt with wooden blocks in front of him.
  • Established2012
  • AgesBirth to 36 months
  • LanguagesEnglish and Spanish
  • CountiesSanta Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito

You are not alone

Concerned about your child's development? You're not alone.

Many families start with a feeling, not a diagnosis. Choose the path that fits you, and Stars will take it from there.

I'm a parent or caregiver Tell Stars what you have noticed. The online request takes a few minutes, mostly by tapping, on your phone. Start for my child  I'm a Community Partner Pediatric and OB-GYN clinics, hospitals, teachers, social workers, and Regional Center teams can refer directly. Refer a child  I'm with a Regional Center The Stars Assessment Center is available to contract with California Regional Centers statewide for developmental assessments, birth to 36 months. Join the interest list 

What we support

Understanding your child's development across eight areas.

Choose an area to see everyday examples. Concerns often touch more than one.

Communication

First words, understanding simple requests, using gestures.

Every assessment also includes medical history. Your Stars team is matched to your primary area of concern.

How it works

Four steps, one team beside you.

Every family's path is different. A Stars team member will explain what to expect at each step.

  1. Reach out

    Start the online request or call (844) 700-9889. Say what you have noticed. That is enough to begin.

  2. Stars listens

    A team member contacts you to talk about your child, your concerns, and your preferred language.

  3. The assessment

    A multidisciplinary team reviews your child's development across the areas above, with you taking part.

  4. A plan together

    If your child is eligible, the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) is created with the Regional Center and your family. The Stars assessment helps inform it.

Your Stars team may include occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech and language pathologists, and early intervention specialists.

The Early Start request

Starting should feel simple.

The online request was built for a tired parent on a phone and for a busy clinic between patients.

  • Works on your phone
  • English and Spanish
  • Mostly tapping, very little typing
  • A few minutes, start to finish
  • Families can begin directly
  • Professional referrals supported
  • Information handled privately
Begin the Early Start Request
QR code that opens the Early Start Form QR code that opens the Early Start Form

Scan a code

The Early Start code.

Scan it with your phone camera to open the Early Start Form. It is the code approved by San Andreas Regional Center and printed on Stars materials.

See all the Early Start codes

One family

Meet the Stars Assessment Center.

Stars has two doors. The Infant Program, where you are now, concentrates on delivering early intervention therapy. The Stars Assessment Center focuses only on the assessments that qualify children for Early Start services, on its own website and with its own contact.

Both share one mission: quality early intervention through motivation, education and creative thinking, with cultural sensitivity.

The Infant Program and the Assessment Center both serve Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and San Benito counties.

Refer a Child

For Regional Centers

Developmental milestones

What you can expect from birth to 36 months.

Choose an age band. These are the milestones Stars lists for families.

  • Responds to sound and voice
  • Makes comfort and sucking sounds
  • Lifts head when held at shoulder
  • Keeps hands open 50% of the time
  • Reaches for nearby objects and grasp
  • Looks and vocalizes to own name
  • Babbles "baba-baba"
  • Discovers hands and feet as extension of self
  • Plays 2-3 minutes with a single toy
  • Says "mama" or "papa" nonspecifically
  • Produces gestures to communicate
  • Sits independently indefinitely
  • Enjoys looking at picture books
  • Responds to simple request, "Drink your juice"
  • Extends a toy to show others, but not to release
  • Waves bye-bye
  • Places at least two rings on ring stacker
  • Identifies one body part
  • Uses expressive vocabulary 1-3 words
  • Stands independently for several seconds
  • Opens doors by turning knobs
  • Identifies 3-6 body parts
  • Uses expressive vocabulary 20-25 words
  • Walks up and down stairs holding the rail

24 to 30 months

  • Matches simple identical objects to pictures
  • Follows two part directions
  • Sings phrases in songs
  • Builds a tower using 8 blocks

30 to 36 months

  • Points to several colors when named
  • Repeats 5 word phrases
  • Walks up stairs alternating feet
  • Is able to concentrate for longer periods of time

Children develop at different rates. Milestones are a guide, not a diagnosis.

Talk with Stars about a concern See the full milestone guide

Mission and trust

Why families and clinics trust Stars.

To provide quality early infant intervention through motivation, education and creative thinking while maintaining cultural sensitivity.

Our mission · Stars Bay Area Inc., established 2012

  • Cultural sensitivity

    Care that respects your family's language, culture, and home.

  • Family participation

    Parents are part of the team from the first conversation.

  • Compassionate communication

    Plain words. No jargon. Questions are welcome.

  • Multidisciplinary experience

    Occupational, physical, and speech therapists working with early intervention specialists.

Events and free classes

Learn together, from home.

Free virtual class

Baby massage and bonding class

Where
Free, virtual, via Zoom
When
Every Monday, 10:00 to 11:00 AM. Enroll at any time; the class is ongoing.
Ages
Newborns to non-crawling infants
What you'll learn
Parents learn the techniques of massage while deeply bonding with their baby. Weekly activities, resources, and topics from class are given for you to take home.
Benefits
Massage promotes healthy attachment and sleeping patterns, sensory development, body awareness, relaxation, and stimulates circulation.

Email to enroll or call (844) 700-9889

More classes are announced here. Events and classes

Questions

The questions families ask first.

  • Families can contact Stars directly. So can pediatricians, clinics, hospitals, teachers, childcare providers, social workers, foster-care professionals, and Regional Center teams. A diagnosis is not required to begin.

  • No. You can start with a concern. Stars will talk with you about what you have noticed and what the next step could be.

  • Early Start is designed for children under age 3. If your child is 3 or older, Stars can still help you understand the next step.

  • Early Start developmental assessments are provided at no cost to families.

  • A multidisciplinary team looks at social-emotional development, communication, motor skills, thinking and problem solving, self-care routines, vision and hearing screening, and medical history. Your team is matched to your primary area of concern.

  • They are two doors into one Stars ecosystem. The Infant Program provides Early Start assessments and early intervention. The Assessment Center is a separate Stars service for developmental assessments, with its own website and contact.

  • This website and the online Early Start request are available in English and Spanish. Tell Stars your preferred language when you reach out.

  • Early Start is California's early intervention program for infants and toddlers. An Individualized Family Service Plan, or IFSP, is the written plan a family and the team create together. Stars helps coordinate it and sets monthly objectives toward its goals.

  • Use the professional branch of the online request. It asks for your organization, your role, and how you prefer to be reached. Families can also contact Stars directly, so you can share the phone number too.

  • Privately. This site uses no advertising trackers or third-party analytics; it counts visits only in total, with nothing that identifies you. Answers in the online request stay in your browser until you choose to send them, and they are used only to respond to your request.

You noticed something. That is enough reason to ask.

Start online or call. A Stars team member will talk with you about the next step.

Request an Assessment Call Stars (844) 700-9889
  • No Diagnosis Needed
Request an Assessment