NIAGARA COUNTY
Preschool services tied to rise in health budget
By Thomas J. Prohaska
- NEWS NIAGARA BUREAU
Updated: 07/25/08 6:39 AM
LOCKPORT — Increasing demands for state-mandated services for preschoolers will drive an increase in the Niagara County Health Department’s 2009 budget, Public Health Director Daniel J. Stapleton told the Board of Health on Thursday.
Most of the increase is tied to new standards for admitting children to the early intervention program, which handles children under 3 years old with perceived developmental problems, and the school special education program, which does the same for kids ages 3 to 5.
Stapleton said those two programs comprise about 65 percent of his department’s budget. “By next year, it could be 70 percent to 75 percent,” he said.
Stapleton said County Manager Gregory D. Lewis told him to reduce his department’s net county cost by $130,000 in 2009. Impossible, Stapleton said.
“We’re going to have an increase, no doubt about it, because of these 100 percent mandated services,” Stapleton said. He will unveil his full budget proposal to the board Aug. 21.
The early intervention program was budgeted at $5.8 million this year, and preschool special education at almost $7.1 million. Stapleton said the state reimburses the county for about 50 percent of the early intervention costs and 59.5 percent of the preschool program.
“The decisions are not made by us whether a child gets services,” he said. The choices are made by doctors, parents and school districts, he said.
Lisa Chester, director of the county’s early intervention program, said one factor in its growth is a new screening tool that seems to increase the number of children regarded as autistic.
“The counties are concerned about the number of kids being referred,” Chester said. “At $97 an hour, that’s $100,000 per child, per year. We have 10 kids in early intervention [who are deemed autistic], so that’s $1 million right there. There are seven or eight on the waiting list for evaluation.”
Some doctors who have served on the Board of Health over the years have questioned the need for elaborate preschool services. Dr. Thomas Hughes of Lockport played that role Thursday.
“The autism standard is so broad that practically anything falls under it. Today we talk about the autism spectrum,” he said. “Children that at one time would have been considered a little unusual today are eligible for services.”
The state Health Department issued new guidelines for early intervention service providers last month. The county has about 100 service providers under contract.
“We’re going to be training our providers Aug. 16, in view of the lack of guidance from the state,” Chester said.
A national study, published in the June issue of the journal Pediatrics, concluded that 13 percent of all infants and toddlers should be in early intervention, although the proportion actually in the program ranges from 2 percent to 6 percent. In Niagara County, that figure is 4 percent, Chester said.
