Sup. Taylor Pushes Funding For Early-Childhood Special-Ed Program

Sequanna Taylor. Photo from Milwaukee County.

Sup. Sequanna Taylor is pushing for funding to save an important early childhood special education program in Milwaukee County.

The Birth to 3 program is an early childhood special education program for children — newborns to three-year-olds — with developmental delays or disabilities. Like many of the services provided by the county, it is mandated and funded by the state and administered locally. Also, like many similar mandated services, the county does not receive enough state funding to cover the full cost of the program.

In recent years, the program has been losing the providers and agencies that provide these special education services because they have not been receiving enough funding to stay afloat. Kelly Pethke, administrator of the county’s Children Youth and Family Services (CYFS) division, said that providers are going into budget deficits because they won’t turn away children who need the program and are referred to them.

On Thursday, Taylor successfully secured the support of the Milwaukee County Board’s powerful Budget Committee for a budget amendment that would add $250,000 to the program in 2024. The funding, Taylor said, would be a way for the board to maintain the providers the program still has. The supervisor explained that providers do not want to stop working, but that they are running out of funding to maintain their operations.

The program currently has three providers, which is down from seven a few years ago, Pethke told the Budget Committee. Her office has been traveling to Madison to meet with Gov. Tony Evers‘ office and the state Department of Health and Human Services to advocate for more funding.

“Our providers right now are running a deficit,” Pethke said. “And we are very concerned that we are going to lose them as providers if we don’t get them the additional funding so that the agencies are made whole.”

The additional $250,000 in the 2024 budget would be stop-gap funding to keep the county’s current agencies afloat and help them hire more staff to meet the need for the program, giving county officials more time to advocate for state funding.

Taylor told the committee she has received messages from families and special education providers about the importance of the program. Without identifying the family, Taylor shared a message from a mother of a premature baby.

“‘I had no idea what to do for a preemie. Our providers were extremely helpful resources for respect and were genuinely concerned about my mental health as well as my son’s; they were there for both of us. And to me, that was top-tier care,'” Taylor read to the committee.

Another story Taylor shared, from a special education provider, said the Birth to 3 program helps children at a critical time in early childhood development that has a major impact on their transition to a school environment and long-term development.

“I have about 30 to 50 more of these stories,” Taylor said.

The Budget Committee recommended the funding for adoption five to one, with Sup. Steve Taylor voting in opposition. It will next go to the full county board.