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Early Intervention Funding Crisis Looms in Utah

Overwhelmingly, families who have received early intervention services express deep gratitude for the support provided to their young children. These services can make a significant difference in the lives of families, particularly when children need extra help to navigate their development. However, Utah providers continue to face considerable challenges in delivering quality services due to funding that has remained largely unchanged since 2017. Despite the increasing demand for services, funding constraints are limiting the effectiveness of these programs, and many providers are struggling to meet the needs of the families they serve.

“I lost one to the school district, and they said they were getting $20,000 a year more, and summers off. I had nothing to say,” said Crystal Ghica.

Crystal Ghica is the director of early intervention at Root for Kids in Washington and San Juan counties. Like many professionals in the field, Ghica is passionate about providing high-quality early intervention to children and families in need, but the financial challenges facing the system are evident.

IDEA Part C services, also known as Early Intervention for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities, are designed to assist young children who require additional support during their early developmental years. However, it has been seven long years since the Utah Legislature increased funding for these vital services, and the consequences are beginning to show. The rise in inflation and the increasing demands placed on early interventionists have created a challenging environment. Many professionals are leaving the field, unable to sustain the pressures of low pay and high expectations.

“I just don’t have it in my budget to give them all that kind of a raise,” said Ghica.

The work of early interventionists is fueled by passion and dedication, but like everyone else, they need to pay their bills. When the financial resources simply aren’t available to provide adequate compensation, many professionals are forced to seek other opportunities, often outside the field.

“When I can make about $20,000 more a year… at the neighborhood school than I can make for Early Intervention, it’s a problem,” said Tammy Edwards.

Tammy Edwards, a former worker for South East Early Intervention in Emery, Grand, and Carbon counties, shares similar sentiments. She and Ghica both entered the field of early intervention due to personal experiences as parents of children who needed these services. However, Edwards found herself in a difficult position when the pay simply did not align with the financial demands of caring for her own family.

“I am required to meet her needs, and I can’t do it on the pay scale that we were given with Early Intervention. … I would have loved to stay because I feel like I could be an asset to them, and I love working with this group of people,” said Edwards.

The challenges that come with funding shortages and low pay raise important questions about the sustainability of early intervention services in Utah. As professionals leave the field, families may find themselves facing more difficulties in accessing the help their children need. What happens when early interventionists leave?

“What it ends up being, honestly, is we will get them a year or two out of maybe their first year out of grad school, which means we also have to, if it’s a speech therapist, we have to help them through their clinical fellowship, which means they’re not 100% on their own yet. So we have to have also a mentor that can dedicate some time to helping get them up and running nowadays. Most grad students come out with quite a bit of debt, like education is just more expensive than it used to be. They’re also requiring higher degrees. So a physical therapist used to be a master’s degree and now is most commonly a doctorate degree. … And so that means they just come with a higher expectation of a higher wage, too,” said Ghica.

While these early intervention professionals may be eager to help, the lack of experienced, licensed providers creates an additional burden on the system. Many new graduates enter the field with substantial debt from their education, which is becoming more expensive. At the same time, expectations are growing, with more advanced degrees required for positions that once only needed a master’s degree. This means that early intervention programs must also grapple with the increased cost of hiring qualified professionals who demand higher salaries.

“I think our longest licensed therapist that we have right now has been here about five years, and the others have been here, you know, all less than that,” said Ghica.

Utah’s Baby Watch Early Intervention Program, which provides essential services to children, currently funds an average of just 1.7 hours of services per month per child. In contrast, the national average is 4.7 hours per month. This funding gap significantly affects the quality and frequency of services that families can receive.

“I wouldn’t have even known where to begin. You get a baby that doesn’t have special needs and you don’t know what you’re doing, let alone, like someone that needs a little extra help,” said Shelby Stanger.

Shelby Stanger, a mother in Box Elder County, is another example of a family who benefited from the early intervention services available through Utah’s Up to 3 Program, part of the Institute for Disability Research, Policy & Practice. Stanger expressed gratitude for the support she received, but like many families, she recognized that the services provided were often not enough to fully meet her child’s needs.

But her family also supplemented early intervention services with trips to Shriner’s hospital in Salt Lake City. This highlights a key challenge in the system: families often need to seek additional resources outside the home to provide comprehensive support for their children.

“I do think that families do need the therapy services more than once or twice a month. I think it would make such a huge difference, and I know that there aren’t families that have as much time as we have,” said Stanger.

As Stanger points out, there is a significant gap between the frequency of services needed and what is currently available. More frequent services could make a world of difference for families who are struggling to provide the best care for their children.

“In some cases, you know that they really need more and you have to help the family find additional resources outside of their home, which research shows that in the native or in the natural environment is where the child learns best. And when we have to send them into a clinic or somewhere else, we know that that’s not the best situation, but sometimes that’s all we can do,” said Ghica.

While early intervention services in Utah provide critical support for families, the current limitations are becoming more apparent as inflation rises, funding remains stagnant, and professionals leave the field. As the state faces these challenges, it is clear that many families could benefit from disability services that provide more hours and better resources to help children thrive in their early years. Ensuring that families have access to consistent, high-quality early intervention services should be a priority for lawmakers and agencies alike, as these programs play a vital role in helping children with disabilities reach their full potential.

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