Ohio's early childhood programs are facing a $244 million cut in the state's upcoming two-year budget, which would mean a loss of services for some of Washington County's low-income families.
A $119 million cut is anticipated for early education/public preschool and funding to get children into private programs in areas like Marietta, which has no public preschool.
A $67 million cut is predicted for child care and a $300,000 cut is expected for behavioral health, which includes screening for early childhood mental health problems.
The largest number of children - 101,000 - are expected to be impacted by a potential $57.6 million cut to the Help Me Grow program, which provides services to expectant parents, newborns, infants and toddlers at risk for developmental delays or disabilities.
"There is not another source for these services for these families, and they're talking about eliminating it," said Cindy Davis, project director for Help Me Grow in Washington County. "I think some people think this is a nice program to have but not essential, but the truth is the ramifications of not having this are huge for the children."
Through the program, service coordinators make regular home visits to families to check on developmental progress, and families are given access to health screenings, resources and referrals.
"In some cases, it's not just about the baby but about providing resources for the parents," said Davis. "If we have a young mom looking to go back to school or someone looking for a job, we help with that."
Elizabeth Knight, of Vincent, said she credits the program with helping her 11-month-old son, Connor, overcome a developmental delay and develop above average motor skills today.
Knight's service coordinator noticed that Connor appeared to have torticollis, a condition where the head tilts to one side and the chin is elevated and angled toward the other side. Left untreated, it can limit a child's range of motion and cause difficulty with everything from balance to seeing and hearing.
"They sent a physical therapist here to work with us on exercises and stretches to alleviate tension in the muscles," said Knight. "He's fine now. And that's something we couldn't have afforded on our own."
Like most parents, Knight said she had no idea to even look for those signs of trouble in her son.
"This is a great program," she said. "It's really important to serve those at-risk children who don't have the resources on their own."
Without such programs, more funding is almost always needed further down the road because problems are allowed to develop, said Roger McCauley, executive director of COAD, the Corporation for Ohio Appalachian Development.
"It's a question of investing money in the front end of life," he said. "It's important to put money into the early ages, especially for at-risk children, if you want them to be successful in life. If we don't do it now, we run the risk of spending a lot more money on problems later on."
Brain research shows that a child's brain is 85 percent formed during the first five years of life, so the quality of a child's experiences during those five years greatly impacts future learning and development.
"This comes down to priorities," said McCauley. "It's a tough time financially for the state right now, but they've been able to find money for other things and they haven't found it for early care and education."
That's an area that doesn't have the lobbying power that others do, McCauley said.
"Kids don't lobby," he said. "They don't have that kind of voice."
Legislators have said they support early education but there is simply no more money to put toward it.
"We just don't have $244 million," Sen. John Carey, the Republican chairman of the Finance Committee, told the Associated Press. "The reality is that it will be difficult to fund what's in the budget now."
Lawmakers are expecting to cut $2 billion from the proposed state budget approved by the House April 29 as revenue forecasts continue to decline. They'll likely have to use a $1 billion rainy day fund immediately to help plug the holes in the budget.
The Senate heard testimony in the last week about the bill, and the potential early childhood education cuts this week, including from some local participants and employees of the Help Me Grow program, said Davis.
The local program helps nearly 200 at-risk children.
"If there is no intervention at this age, the school systems are going to see the brunt of the problems later on," Davis said. "This is an essential service and we hope people will contact their legislators immediately."
A decision on the cuts could come as early as Tuesday, she said.
The program had been given a $270 million boost in the state's last budget, which ends June 30.
"We've made huge strides forward, and this would be taking huge strides backward," said McCauley."If the state doesn't have the money available, then I would give serious thought to them raising more revenue."
