Budget cuts slash MRDD's early intervention program

Eleven employees at Leonard Kirtz School received layoff notices April 30.
AUSTINTOWN -- The early intervention program by Mahoning County Board for Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities is one of the first casualties of the loss of Medicaid funding.
The board expects to lose nearly $4 million annually, beginning next year, in Medicaid reimbursements from the state and federal governments.
The board has been implementing cutbacks because the Community Alternative Funding System, which reimburses local entities with Medicaid, will end in Ohio on June 30.
Eleven instructional and noninstructional employees at Leonard Kirtz School received layoff notices by April 30.
Superintendent Larry Duck and managers who work for the board volunteered to take a salary freeze for the program year from September 2005 through August 2006 to help with the budget woes.
Duck said that by May 31, several management positions will be eliminated as a result of not renewing employment contracts, retirement or job restructuring.
The savings from the school layoffs and management staff changes will not be enough to make up the shortfall, and the board will continue to look at further cutbacks in the next 30 to 60 days.
Changes in programming will be based on making sure the board meets its state and federal mandates for services to disabled individuals.
Continuing services
Duck emphasized that the changes in services to individuals and families are being planned so that there would be some continuity of similar services, but it may come from providers other than the board.
As an example, the board has operated the early intervention program for children up to the age of 30 months. That will end Sept.1, but MRDD will continue to serve the 94 children currently enrolled in the program through a home-based program until they reach the maximum age for participation in the early intervention program.
"We will continue to serve the kids until the age of 36 months, as that is the age in which they would be eligible for pre-school programs in the public schools," Duck said. "We do not want the kids and families to experience that six-month gap in service."
The board has stopped accepting new referrals, and the early intervention services will be handled for new enrollees by the Help Me Grow program, which is the lead agency providing early intervention services within the state.
Help Me Grow receives federal funding for its services, including early intervention. MRDD used all local funds for its early intervention program. The early intervention program is not a mandated service of the board.
The county board also closed one of its two preschool classes. The administrators applied to the Ohio Department of Education to transfer that unit to the public schools system in Mahoning County. No preschool classroom slots would be lost, although the county board would no longer be the provider of those classes.
Other business
In other action, the board passed a motion asking Mahoning County commissioners to place the 3-mill renewal levy on the ballot in November. That levy would generate about $11 million to operate the MRDD programs.
"After the CAFS issue is behind us, the two local MRDD levies will generate 75 percent of the funds available to run the adult and children's programs for individuals with MRDD needs," Duck said.
Duck also announced that a public meeting would be from 7 to 8:30 p.m. May 25 at Leonard Kirtz School to update parents and guardians about the funding and program issues.
Parents also will receive a mailing before the May 25 meeting explaining the changes that are taking place.
The next meeting of the MRDD board will be at 6 p.m. June 13 at the Bev Road MASCO workshop.