Community Statement in support of a 15% across the board rate increase for all Preschool Special Education services

We call on County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo to instruct the Monroe County Department of Health to publish a new Preschool Special Education rate structure that establishes a 15% increase in reimbursement for all services across the board, regardless of whether they are provided in a one-to-one or group setting.

Young children with disabilities have a right guaranteed by federal law to timely and appropriate services provided in the least restrictive environment. Preschoolers’ Individualized Education Programs often recommend Related Services such as speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, vision and hearing education services, and counseling.

Current situation:

Unfortunately, hundreds of young children throughout Monroe County have waited weeks or months for needed support

Preschool Special Education Related Services rates in Monroe County have not increased in 10 years. In 2018-19, Monroe County paid a lower rate per service than each of the 5 counties that border it. Due to these low rates, qualified professionals are leaving the field and there is a dire shortage of Preschool Special Education service providers. Many leave the field to work at hospitals, schools and other settings where they can earn as much as $20,000-$30,000 more per year.

Recent Events:

– In March, 2019, County Executive Dinolfo announced a 15% “across-the-board” rate increase to Preschool Special Education Related Services.

– In late May, 2019, parents, providers, and advocates learned that this alleged 15% increase was only being applied to individual services between a provider and child, while group services were being held even.

– While the County alleges that group rates are new to Monroe County, the State Education Department has listed group rates for Monroe County on its website for several years, and many children across the county currently receive group services. Providers have been billing the county for group services for years. For example, in one suburban Rochester school district, more than one-third of all PSE services in 2018-19 were group services.

Why is this important?:

The early years are a unique and time-limited opportunity to address developmental delays. It is therefore critical that these services are available as soon as children are identified as needing them.

Research shows that early detection and treatment of developmental delays and disabilities can improve cognition, social skills, school readiness, and family and child well-being. The architecture of the brain is forming rapidly during a child’s early years, and efforts to address developmental challenges have the greatest chance of succeeding during the first few years of life. Preschool Special Education Services are therefore both more effective than interventions among older children and extraordinarily less costly than years of school-aged special education.

Signatories

Action for a Better Community

Asbury Day Care Center

Autism UP

Catholic Family Center

Child Care Council

Children’s Institute

Church of the Assumption

Downtown United Presbyterian Church

Early Childhood Development Initiative Advocacy Committee

Early Childhood Education Quality Council

First Unitarian Church

Friendship Children’s Center

Heart and Soul Community Church

Ibero-American Action League

Imagination Child Care Academy

In Christ New Hope Ministry

Lutheran Church of the Reformation

Monroe County Council of Child Care Directors

Monroe County School Boards Association

New Hope Free Methodist Church

Office of Advocacy and Social Ministry, Catholic Family Center

Oregon Leopold Daycare

Panorama Pediatric Group

Pittsford Pediatric Associates

Rochester Area Community Foundation

Rochester Friends Meeting (Quakers)

Rochester Regional Coalition Against Human Trafficking

Rochester’s Child

The Children’s Agenda

St. Christopher’s

St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church

Temple Sinai

The Interfaith Alliance of Rochester

VOA Children’s Center