8/14/2019 EI Budget Cuts

1/3

Governor Paterson:I am writing to you to express my deep opposition to the changes proposed for special education and Early Intervention outlined in your budget, which you pledged to enact in your State-of-the-State address. The proposed New York State Budget will seriously adversely affect the provision of Early Intervention Services to the children of New York State .

Effective early intervention has a demonstrated track record of positively affecting the long-term outcomes of children with developmental delays and special needs, yet you propose a raft of policy changes that will result in fewer servicesfor the kids who need it most.This proposal would:--force many families to lose services that help children develop during the critical early years.--would seriously burden families.--result in the loss of qualified and experienced EI providers.--add to unemployment, as your new provider approval/reapproval process would se

riously threaten the ability of independent practitioners to continue to provideEI services.--eliminate consumer choice of providers. This is dangerous as the direct relationship between the therapist and child is essential in successful outcomes for these children.--make it difficult to adhere to the laws requiring children to be seen in theirnatural environment.

Your budget and other proposals are a direct threat to the future of every child, both those with special needs and those without special needs who have to share resources. These changes if enacted will not only affect the type and qualityof services that can be provided to the children with special needs, but it willalso add financial burden for families and providers.

No consideration seems to be given to the long-term effects the cutbacks will have on children, nor that the demand for Early Intervention and special educationincrease by 10-15% every year due to the growing number of children on the autism spectrum. Our Early Intervention program is wonderful, but still needs some improvements, NOT DISMANTLING.I urge you to reconsider these proposals and look for other ways to address thebudget shortfall.Sincerely,YOUR NAME

CITY , STATE

-----------------------BACKGROUNDThe New York State Early Intervention Program (EIP) is part of the national Early Intervention Program for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families. First created by Congress in 1986 under the Individuals with DisabilitiesEducation Act, the EIP is administered by the New York State Department of Health through the Bureau of Early Intervention.

New York's Early Intervention program provides free services to 0-3-year-old children who have developmental delays or disabilities.

To be eligible for services, children must be under 3 years of age and have a confirmed disability or established developmental delay, as defined by the State,in one or more of the following areas of development: physical, cognitive, commu

8/14/2019 EI Budget Cuts

2/3

nication, social-emotional, and/or adaptive.

The Early Intervention Program offers a variety of therapeutic and support services to eligible infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families, including:speech pathology and audiology

occupational therapyphysical therapyfamily education and counseling, home visits, and parent supportspecial instructionpsychological servicesservice coordinationnursing servicesnutrition servicessocial work servicesvision servicesassistive technology devices and services

CURRENT PROPOSED EARLY INTERVENTION REFORMThe proposed New York State Budget will seriously adversely affect the provisionof Early Intervention Services to the children of New York State .Establish an Early Intervention Parental Fee. Historically the Early Intervention program has been carried out at no cost to the family. Parental fees would beestablished ranging from $45 to $540. This jeopardizes vulnerable children's access to needed services. Families earning as little as 161% of the federal poverty level ($29,000 for a family of 3) would have to make monthly payments for eacheligible child. If a family missed even one payment, the child would lose EarlyIntervention services and become ineligible for Early Intervention. Families who are unable to provide proof of income would have to pay the highest amount, including children whose families are homeless or children who are in foster care.Establish more stringent eligibility criteria. More kids would not receive serv

ices, forcing the school system to deal with the growing number of special needskids.Eliminating choices for a child's service provider. This is dangerous as the direct relationship between the therapist and child is essential in successful outcomes for these children.Revise Early Intervention Home and Facility-based Rates. Rates for home-based visits would be decreased, and the rates for facility or clinical-based services would be increased. This would make it difficult to adhere to the laws requiringchildren to be seen in the natural environment, and it will also result in the loss of qualified and experienced EI providers and add to unemployment.Requires all EI service providers in the State become a Medicaid provider. All service providers will be required to directly bill claims for children enrolledin Medicaid as well as those dually eligible for Medicaid and private insurance.(Currently each municipality is responsible for billing third party payers and Medicaid). This will make it very difficult for independent providers and small agencies to participate in the program due to complex administrative and paperwork requirements. It will result in a loss of experienced, knowledgeable providers.Allow Paraprofessional Behavioral Aides for Children with Severe Disabilities. Paraprofessional behavioral aides would be allowed to deliver applied behavioralanalysis intervention programs to children with autism spectrum disorders and other severe disabilities. Rather than fully masters level certified level specialeducation teachers, this may result in less effective outcomes and will allow the least qualified providers to serve the most significantly needy children and families.

A new provider approval/reapproval process. It will seriously threaten the ability of independent practitioners to continue to provide Early Intervention services and eliminates consumer choice of providers. It would allow the NY Department

8/14/2019 EI Budget Cuts

3/3

of Health to limit the number of Early Intervention providers, making it more difficult for parents to find qualified providers in their communities.His proposal to charge for Early Intervention services nearly made me cry. It isa wonderful, amazing program that still needs improvement, not dismantling. Plus, his proposal to cut school spending combined with the above indicates that Governor Paterson is just making poor decisions. These are our children. They are

the adults who will be his doctor, lawyer, accountant, nurse, etc. in the future.

For more information and updates on what you can do to oppose this proposal, contact Randi Levine at (212) 822-9532 orrlevine@advocatesforchildren.orgEllen McHughParent to Parent NY Statewww.parenttoparentnys.org800-405-8818