Lieutenant Governor and DHSS Secretary Unveil Plan To Expand Services for Infants and Toddlers With Disabilities
Federal Stimulus Funds Allow State To Dramatically Reduce Service Delays and Improve Outcomes for Disabled Children
For Immediate Release: May 13, 2009
Lieutenant Governor Matthew Denn and Secretary of Health and Social Services Rita Landgraf unveiled today a plan to use federal funds made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to dramatically reduce delays in diagnosis and treatment of infants and toddlers with disabilities. The state's new plan was praised by the chair of the state's council that acts as a watchdog for children with disabilities.
Delaware will receive approximately $2.14 million over the next 27 months under the federal IDEA Part C program, which provides funds for services for children from birth to age three with disabilities. Half of the new federal funds have already been received, and the remainder of the funds should be made available to Delaware before the end of September, 2009.
Lieutenant Governor Denn, whose office is focused on advocacy for Delaware's children, and Secretary Landgraf worked collaboratively with front-line staff and advocates for children with disabilities in developing the state's plan for the use of these funds. Wendy Strauss, chair of the Governor's Advisory Council for Exceptional Citizens, praised both the plan itself and the process by which it was put together. "I am very pleased with the plan, and the process by which it was developed was very inclusive," Strauss said.
The plan includes:
- The hiring of a service coordinator, a nurse, and speech language pathologists, which collectively will result in dramatic reduction or elimination of delays in the diagnosis of disabilities in infants and toddlers, and the provision of services to infants and toddlers who have been diagnosed.
- Expanded training of day care workers and others who work regularly with children to help them make early diagnoses of development disabilities.
- A new computerized case management system that will allow the state to more closely monitor services provided to infants and toddlers, to ensure that services are provided in a timely fashion.
- The introduction of new programs to assist parents in working with infants and toddlers with disabilities, to augment the work done by therapists and other professionals.
"This is great news for the families of infants and toddlers with disabilities," Denn said. "Early diagnosis and treatment is absolutely essential to providing good outcomes for these kids, and that is exactly what this plan will make possible."
Secretary Landgraf added that "To me the final dollar amount coming to Birth to Three is not so much of importance as the fact that we will be continue to make progress and reach more of this special population of Delaware children."
