Comments on House Budget Recommendations for ECI

Comments on House Budget Recommendations House Appropriations Article II Subcommittee Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services

As you consider appropriations for the 2016-2017 biennium, we ask that you recognize the long-term costs and outcomes associated with any policy decision which would result in the further narrowing of Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) eligibility requirements, reduce the intensity of services provided, or move Texas away from the current ECI program model which provides family-focused, cost-effective and evidence-based services shown to improve children’s developmental progress beyond what would have been expected without early intervention.

Texans Care for Children urges you to fund DARS Exceptional Item 1, which will allow the program to provide eligible children with the appropriate level of services. Without this funding, DARS will be unable to provide all eligible children with adequate levels of care, preventing kids, families, and the state from experiencing the full impact of early intervention services. 

Click here to download and read the full testimony.