With little notice to thousands of parents who will be affected, state officials this week are trying to jam through drastic new rules that threaten to cut off therapy treatment for thousands of infants and toddlers with developmental delays.
Compelled by severe cost overruns in the state’s Early Intervention program, Illinois Department of Human Services Secretary Linda Renee Baker seeks to split the program in two beginning Feb. 1. Children up to age 3 who are the most severely disabled still will be guaranteed government-sponsored treatment. Those with moderate delays, kids who are 30 to 50 percent behind their peers, will get therapy–if the money lasts.
Research shows how critical early therapeutic treatment is to children who exhibit delays in speech, motor skills, hearing or other areas. Among youngsters in the moderate group–those who usually benefit most from treatment–early therapy sometimes can bring a child completely up to speed by the time he or she reaches preschool, according to Barrington-based Dr. Mark Rosenberg, president of the Illinois chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. That saves plenty later in special education costs.
The state agency fell into a $54 million hole partly because of its own poor estimates of how many children would qualify for Early Intervention services. The agency projected roughly 8,000 kids. The real figure approaches 12,000. The agency also underestimated costs. Projected expenditures of $5,000 per child wound up closer to $8,000.
There are alternatives worth trying before a slash-and-burn budget response. Private insurance should be tapped into, and wealthier parents could shoulder a portion of fees. Illinois has ignored other federal funding sources, and has sacrificed millions in Medicaid money. Greater discipline also should be imposed over how therapies are assigned; many children are receiving therapies they don’t need.
Baker contends federal rules prohibit states from imposing those alternatives, hence the need to create a separate program. Nonsense. Baker ought to reread pages 206 and 207 of the federal rules, which allow for plenty of creativity in leveraging other funding.
The department has scheduled a public hearing for Wednesday. But given that the Early Intervention program is set to split in two the very next day, clearly Baker isn’t so interested in debate as she is ramming her plan through without discussion.
The governor and legislators should step in and impose some sense, or at least enough of a delay to study how other states, such as Indiana, have made their Early Intervention programs work at reasonable cost. Thousands of children provide plenty of incentive for Illinois to do the same.
