Early Childhood Programs Declining in Milwaukee
A systemic failure: County can't make up for underfunding at federal and state level.
Penfield Children’s Center. Photo taken April 22 by Graham Kilmer.
Each year, Milwaukee County struggles to find enough funding for an early childhood program called Birth to 3.
It’s a federally mandated early intervention program to diagnose and provide therapy for children with disabilities and development delays. The program focuses on the first three years of a child’s life, a critical period for brain development and also a period when the children are not yet eligible for service through the public special education system.
The county is legally in charge of administering the program. But program providers say the federal government has historically underfunded it, and the state has not raised its funding support to keep up with rising costs, leaving the county, which has many other state and federal mandates to fund, trying to cover the difference.
“What we’re getting in isn’t covering what we’re having to put out to make sure that the kids get what they need,” said Joy Gravos, president and CEO of Curative Care Network.
The program is a federal entitlement, which means providers like Gravos’ organization don’t turn families away simply because they’re running a budget deficit. However, stagnant public support has left community providers struggling to cover the costs and many have simply dropped out of Birth to 3 care in Milwaukee County. There are only three providers left: Curative Care, Penfield Children’s Center and St. Francis Children’s Center.
Leaders of these organizations told Urban Milwaukee they are committed to Birth to 3 for the long haul, and will do whatever is necessary to keep operating. But they are left treading water, diverting resources that could otherwise be used to expand care for children. Their data suggests only 27% of children eligible for the service are receiving it.
“So I would argue that there should be a much more robust outreach and education and developmental assessment campaign, but you need dollars for that, and there just aren’t,” said Polina Makievsky, President and CEO of Penfield Children’s Center. “We’re leaving a lot of kids out.”
Early childhood intervention programs like Birth to 3 have been required since passage of the 1990 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Special education programs governed by the legislation have never been fully funded, according the National Education Association. U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin has tried to pass legislation in Congress that would force the federal government to fully fund programs under IDEA.
The total spending, statewide, on Birth to 3 was approximately $43 million in 2023. State and federal funding has been flat for years, and the contibution in 2023 was approximately $12.7 million statewide. Advocates say the state needs to spend approximately $10 million more a year to stabilize the program. In Milwaukee, the gap is approximately $2 million.
During the 2026 budget process, the Milwaukee County Board managed to add approximately $450,000 to the county’s Birth to 3 budget.
“We recognize Milwaukee County is in a really, really tough spot as well,” Makievsky said. “But what’s happening is, from the federal to the state on down, everyone’s passing the buck.”
While the number of providers is shrinking, enrollment is growing and funding stays the same.
“The volume increasing is a big deal because the contract that we received from the county is fixed,” Makievsky said. “As volume increases, we can recoup more there, but the biggest chunk of our revenue is that county contract, and it’s fixed.”
Children are not covered by the public special education system until they are three; at that point families have missed a critical early window for intervention.
“We see kids who are born very prematurely. We see children who have chromosomal abnormalities. We see children who are just not crawling or walking on time. And, of course, autism and other conditions,” said Laura Felix, CEO of the St. Francis Children’s Center. “So we are really that first line of defense, and we know that the brain is most malleable between the ages of zero and three.”
The long-term impact of early intervention can be truly profound, and even reduce public costs associated with special education or the criminal justice system, Gravos said.
Undiagnosed, or untreated, developmental delays can manifest later in childhood as behavioral challenges that may one day bring a child in contact with the criminal justice system.
“We’re trying to break that cycle,” Felix said.
If you think stories like this are important, become a member of Urban Milwaukee and help support real, independent journalism. Plus you get some cool added benefits.
