With changes to early intervention paused, Colorado families remain in the dark
A more than $1 billion deficit in the Colorado budget has state lawmakers scrambling to figure out where to make cuts. Last week, cuts to Early Intervention Services were among those being considered.
The program provides therapy services to children with developmental delays until their third birthday. Now those cuts to the program have been paused.
It is the little milestones, from being able to walk, talk and eat, that are a daily reminder of the progress Denver resident Sarah Whitson's 2-year-old son has made since birth.
"It's been life changing and life saving for him and us," said Whitson. "At this point he's going to live a full capable life."
She credits a lot of the success he's had to the state's Early Intervention Program, which he started at three months old.
"He was born with an unexpected health issue and was enrolled automatically because of that," said Whitson.
At the time, her son was just getting out of the NICU. However, any fears she and her wife had that her son would never live a normal life were quickly dismantled with each visit to one of his EI providers.
"He sees his speech and feeding therapist once a week, and his occupational therapist once a week, and then his nutritionist once or twice a month," said Whitson.
Last week, Whitson was shocked to learn via social media about initial plans made by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood to change services to Early Intervention, which would have potentially cut her child's time with providers by more than half each month.
"I went to bed absolutely furious Wednesday night and woke up absolutely furious Thursday morning that that's how I found out," she said. "It just shook our confidence in this system that had gotten us through so much, and had gotten us through so much, and had gotten him to where he was."
Following the state's initial announcement to make "cost containment" changes to EI by as early as March 3, a new memo shared Monday by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood stated none of those changes have still gone into effect and the department is working with the Joint Budget Committee on how to minimize impacts to the program.
However, families like Whitson's still feel worried they are still being left in the dark throughout this process.
"We just want clear, honest, open, direct communication, and we haven't gotten that so far and it's disappointing," she said.
Whitson says she didn't even receive information that the state is hosting public meetings this week for families to discuss changes to the program.
"That is frustrating yet again," said Whitson.
With changes to the EI program paused for now, families remain hopeful their kids will continue to receive the care they need. However, they are also cautious that lawmakers will still have to make difficult cuts to the budget.
"He is one of many kids who will also be a success story, and we really need to start looking at these things as investments and not just services," said Whitson.
The CDEC shared an updated statement since last week with CBS Colorado:
"The Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) is committed to providing high-quality services for children and families, while identifying responsible cost-containment steps given the difficult state budget environment. The Department is grateful for the action and willingness of the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) to explore potential solutions to address challenges in Early Intervention (EI) services to ensure sustainable services for kids and families. CDEC is actively collaborating with the JBC, providers, partners, and legislative staff to identify the most effective solutions for families."
There are three public meetings scheduled for this week with the CDEC:
For Families:
- Tuesday, March 4 4-5 p.m.
- Wednesday, March 5 4:15-5:15 p.m.
For Providers:
- Wednesday, March 5th 11:30-12 p.m.
