Testimony in support of S 2359
Maternal and Child Health Services for Children with Special Health Care Needs
Senate Committee on Finance
April 11, 2024
Divya Nair, Policy Analyst, Economic Progress Institute
The Economic Progress Institute supports Senator Valverde’s S 2359, which would provide a 25% Medicaid rate increase and annual Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) to Rhode Island’s Early Intervention program. Additionally, S 2359 would update the Early Intervention statute to ensure that the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) is the agency responsible for implementing Early Intervention services.
All children deserve equal access to high-quality education. For babies and young children with disabilities or developmental delays, the Early Intervention program – which provides free developmental and educational support for children under the age of three – is a powerful tool for accessing high-quality education. Early intervention has been proven to have lasting beneficial effects throughout a child’s life by improving socioemotional development, academic performance, and employment outcomes.1
Unfortunately, due to service delays and inadequate staffing, babies and young children in Rhode Island are not getting their Early Intervention needs met. As of February 2024, there were 623 infants and toddlers who had been waiting more than 45 days for services, in violation of federal and state requirements.2 Since 2019, there has been a 21% decrease in children receiving Early Intervention services. The financial and staffing crisis within the Early Intervention program has led to limited access to these services for babies and toddlers with developmental delays and disabilities.
Senator Valverde’s S 2359 would provide a 25% Medicaid rate increase to the Early Intervention program, which would be $1 million more in state general revenue than is currently proposed in the Governor’s FY25 budget. S 2359 would also update the statute to name EOHHS as the agency responsible for implementing Early Intervention and specify that Early Intervention is the state’s program fulfilling the requirements of Part C of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
These investments in Rhode Island’s youngest children will yield great long-term benefits for infants and toddlers, their families, the communities they live in, and our state’s economy. The Economic Progress Institute urges passage.