Kids with special needs and disabilities could lose services because of program merger

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) — A new program by the Arkansas Department of Human Services could mean major changes for thousands of kids with special needs and disabilities.

Currently, DHS has been operating two Medicaid-funded developmental daycares. Now, they have agreed to a merger to combine the two programs into one new program, Early Intervention Day Treatment (EIDT). It becomes effective July 1.

One result of this program change is that within the first year 3,300 kids could be taken out of their program if they don't have a diagnosed therapy need. Director of the DHS Division of Developmental Services Melissa Stone said the merger and changes are necessary for sustainability as Arkansas is one of only two states still operating Medicaid funded developmental daycares. She also said it is unlikely all 3,300 affected kids will not be eligible for EIDT.

“We know many of the kids have not been evaluated to see if they need therapy because therapy was not a requirement for one of the original programs,” Stone said. “We don't know that those kids won't qualify under the new program.”

Stone said that in the new EIDT program, it will be a mandatory eligibility requirement for kids to get tested for a therapy need. Each clinic will have to have physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech therapists on hand and they will be evaluating children to find what services they need. Stone said that kids who are not eligible under the new program will have other options.

“We believe if these kids don't have true medical needs that need the inclusive Medicaid funded day program they will do better in regular daycare settings,” Stone said.

But, is there room for up to 3,300 kids to move to other federally funded programs and classrooms next year? Tonya Williams, director of the division of childcare and early childhood education, said there is room in programs like ABC, Head Start, Early Head Start, public school pre-k or regular daycare programs.

“There is the capacity for about 38,000 children between all of the available services and we feel like we do have the capacity,” she said.

She said that kids with disabilities can still thrive in more integrated programs and classrooms.

“There is a great deal of research about inclusive settings or integrated settings where children who go in with typically developing peers learn other types of behaviors and other modeling types of behaviors that can help them have more positive role models,” she said.

Williams said she believes children that have significant issues will qualify for the newly aligned program to get the services they need. She also believes kids moved into typically developing early childhood settings will get access to help through other services as well.

One of the 3,300 kids that could lose services is Jaden Reynolds, who has been participating in First Step, a program he will no longer qualify for under the new merger. That's because he does not have a diagnosed therapy need. He only qualifies for help with developmental delays.

Reynold’s grandmother, Alanna Opal, said she feels Jayden won’t get the help he truly needs if he is let go of the program before he is ready. Opal said First Step has changed Jayden’s life for the better.

“Prior to First Step, he was like a shell and was just shut down,” she said. “Now, he has improved greatly in his emotional wellbeing and physical wellbeing.”

She said he’s learned to dance, sing, talk, recognize colors, and recite his ABCs. She said he is more outgoing than ever before and is learning leaps and bounds better than before. Opal said she has no idea where Reynold’s will go now because other programs are too far away from their rural home.

“Head Start closed near us, so I would have to transport him I don't know how far,” she said.

Overall, she is most worried the switch will damage the progress he's made and doesn't believe other services will provide him the care and attention he needs.

“It was our DHS caseworker who initially suggested First Step,” she said. “They said he definitely needed to be in First Step.”

Brett Chancellor is CEO of First Step and is now part of the “Save my Services” campaign. With this campaign Chancellor, Opal and thousands of other families are fighting to remove the therapy requirement.

“Some of the alternative programs they have proposed like ABC, Head Start and regular preschool have fundamental problems,” he said. ‘While they are great programs, these children don't necessarily fit that program model.”

Chancellor said there's not enough availability of alternative programs especially for kids in rural areas. He said some alternative programs only provide nine months of care as opposed to 12. He also said many alternatives have much larger class sizes or teacher-student ratios than First Step.

“You aren't comparing apples to apples as far as the alternatives there,” he said.

He also said that many kids who started out in these alternative programs have actually switched to First Step and that public school educators are fearful of what this change will mean in the long run.

“We met with districts because a lot of these children, we fear, will go unserved and they will show up at public school having missed the critical window of development on the front end,” Chancellor said.

As Chancellor and Opal continue to fight against the new requirements, they hope others will listen and act for the sake of kids now and in the future.

“My goal is to be Jayden’s voice and the voice for other children to keep these programs going because it’s desperately needed,” Opal said.

For more info on ‘Save my Services” Campaign visit their website. For more information on the DHS program merger and requirements, see below.