It is not a secret that High quality early intervention services can change a child’s developmental trajectory and improve outcomes for children, families, and communities.
Intervention is likely to be more effective and less costly when it is provided EARLIER in life rather than LATER. Therefore, I personally don’t know where I would have been without my son’s early intervention services. It is already hard enough to balance many things as a parent, so having a team of support to better prepare me to meet my child’s learning, and social emotional development has been a blessing.
I understand how critical the first three years of life are for my son. This is why families benefit from Early Intervention by being able to better meet their children’s special needs from an early age and throughout their lives. I was fortunate to obtain these vital services right before the waitlist began and even though I have a great team it has not been an easy transition to have to obtain many of my services virtually. Though my team has gone above and beyond to provide quality services and provide in-person opportunities, we no longer can have services in my backyard during these winter days and my little one is not able to stay on video for more than 15 minutes.
More children need services than are currently being served, especially since the start of Covid-19. As an Afro Latina woman, I have seen firsthand how Covid has disproportionately affected our BIPOC community, MORE SO OUR LITTLE ONES that have had to enter this world during the Covid Pandemic. We deserve to do better for THEM, this is not a question of whether we should allocate funding for them and be flexible. It is a HUMAN RIGHT to receive quality services no child should be left without these vital supports!
— Naiommy Baret
