Colorado officials are grappling with impending funding cuts to the state's Early Intervention program, which threaten to halt therapeutical care for children with disabilities.
The cuts could affect speech therapy, physical therapy, or other services for some of the state's babies and toddlers with developmental delays. Less than a week remains before the state program's $4 million funding shortfall.
Early Intervention Program Funding Cut
The massive funding cut would affect the $87 million program, which evaluates and serves roughly 11,000 children from birth to age three every month. The announcement caused tears, panic, and outrage among some parents and therapists across Colorado.
A Westminster mother, Celia Saravia, has a two-year-old daughter who has Down Syndrome. She said that she expressed her disappointment on Wednesday morning alongside one of the three therapists who visits her and her child every week through the Early Intervention program, according to ChalkBeat.
The mother said that they had a little cry about the funding cut because it was "so sad." This comes after the Colorado Department of Early Childhood announced them in a letter to program providers via a letter on Tuesday.
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The cost-cutting measures will take effect on Mar. 3, 2025, and will limit children to four hours of therapy per month. Currently, some children, such as Saravia's daughter, receive three times that amount.
Care providers revealed that they were taken by surprise with the sudden announcement of the funding cuts. They also questioned the legality of the changes under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, The Denver Post reported.
Uncertainty About the Development
Katelyn Kox, an occupational therapist based in Larimer County, noted that there was a lot of uncertainty regarding the development, adding that it felt like patient abandonment. The Department of Early Childhood said that the cuts are necessary in order to balance the fiscal year 2024-25 budget.
This is because referrals to the Early Intervention program continue to rise while previously available stimulus funding has fallen. So far, it is unclear exactly how big a shortfall the agency expects if the changes are not implemented.
The situation comes as the Trump administration has also made a number of cuts in other areas, including to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Republican leader announced a slash to federal spending on the indirect costs that keep universities and research institutes operating.
Rick Huganir, a neuroscientist at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, questioned the data that he read, which cited a cut of 15%. He argued that this could stall 25 years of work, as per NCB News.
