New Information Regarding the Baby Watch Budget

UPDATE!!!  Baby Watch has been removed from the list of proposed cuts!  We appreciate our families and their support!

Baby Watch is on the agenda for Social Services Appropriations Subcommittee (SSAC) this Friday 2/2 at 8 a.m. The committee will be hearing performance updates from UDOH on building blocks funded during the 2017 session which include BWEIP. As you may know, Legislative Fiscal Analysts have proposed cutting $3M in ongoing funding from BWEIP and backfilling it with $3M in one-time money while UDOH pursues possible private insurance funding to replace the ongoing state dollars.  The legislative audit of BWEIP recommends “a cost-benefit analysis of private insurance utilization,” to secure additional sources of stable revenue for the program. The audit did not recommend that additional revenue be used to replace state funding that has already been appropriated to the program. Last year, $2.7M in ongoing funding was appropriated to the program to address years of unfunded growth.

The audit reports that BWEIP has reached its capacity.  BWEIP currently serves 2.75 percent of the 0-3 population in Utah, “well below the national baseline of 4.97 percent.”  The audit also found that Utah is providing “far fewer service hours to eligible infants and toddlers,” based on a survey of 25 states in 2015.  The last thing we need is a reduction in ongoing support for the program.

It would be really helpful to have a few FAMILIES there to speak in support of the program and emphasize that any additional revenue, such as private insurance, should be used to enhance the program and serve more children. If you would be interested in speaking to the Social Services Appropriations Subcommittee, please contact Debbie Benson prior to 1 p.m. Thursday to get on the list.

Debbie Benson 801.326.1698

dbenson@le.utah.gov

You can also send emails or make calls to members of the SSAC. Below is a link to the Social Services Appropriations Subcommittee page where you can find members, meetings, agendas and meeting materials.

https://le.utah.gov/asp/interim/Commit.asp?year=2018&com=APPSOC

  

Thank you for your support of the children and families served by Utah’s Baby Watch Program! Feel free to contact me with questions. 

Mandy Zeschke

mzeschke@dsdmail.net

801 402-5403

Please Contact Your Legislator

We are well into the Legislative Budget Determination Time and even though we thought this legislative session would be uneventful for Baby Watch Early Intervention, a very concerning development has been brought to our notice.  That development is what I want all our parents to be aware of.

Using the Colorado example from the legislative audit of BWEIP, Russel Frandsen suggests that we could replace $3M in State General Fund with private insurance funding. Even if this were possible, it would take years to implement and requires changing the law.

 Below is the Utah Policy article that specifically references the Baby Watch program as one of the programs recommended in the $162 M in budget reductions. 

"In no uncertain terms, rank-and-file GOP House members were told by their leaders Tuesday they had better take seriously the $162 million suggested cuts to the state’s “base budget,” or the money-saving process will just be scrapped.

In an open caucus Tuesday afternoon, four leaders told their 62 members that the Legislative Fiscal Analyst Office’s work is important.

The LFA is taking a lot of heat from various state agencies and their program supporters over the suggested cuts, now being debated in the Legislature’s various budget subcommittees.

You can see a budget summary and the proposed cuts to the base budgets here. Scroll down until you hit the “base budget considerations,” and all those below that headline are the suggested cuts that individual budget subcommittees are now considering.

Some of the proposed cuts are controversial and have strong supporters inside and outside of the Legislature.

Like cutting $1 million from the popular Baby Watch program.

Until last year, GOP leaders asked the various subcommittees to “cut” 2 percent from the current year’s base budgets – a chore that fell in part on the House and Senate co-chairs to come up with those proposed cuts.

So those elected folks “cut” the budgets, only to see the Executive Appropriations Committee restore about all of them later in the session.

It was politically unpopular work – and the chairs, UtahPolicy.com is told, were getting heat from agencies and special interest groups.

Since that 2 percent process wasn’t resulting in any serious budget cuts – in theory, made to save taxpayers money on outdated or no longer needed programs – leaders decided to have their own budget staff, politically neutral experts in the programs/budgets, come up some “cut” ideas.

That’s the $162 million list linked to above -- $33 million in one-time revenue surpluses, and $128 million in ongoing tax-funded programs.

But, it appears in the early days of the 2018 Legislature, some budget subcommittees are not taking those suggested cuts seriously, leaders said.

(Utah is unique among the state legislatures, all 104 lawmakers here sit on a budget subcommittee. Most other states have small, special appropriation committees who set the budget.)

“Our (LFA) is scrubbing those budgets and seeing legitimate cuts,” said newly-appointed House budget vice chair Mike Schultz, R-Hooper.

The proposed cuts, based on merit, are real, he said. But added that “politically” the GOP lawmakers – who control the budget process – may not want to make some of those cuts when the final budget is set in early March.

Leaders expect “a good, vigorous debate” on the cuts assigned to individual subcommittees, said Schultz. “Take these suggestions seriously.”

“Our staff is taking a lot of arrows,” he added.

House and Senate leaders have already taken some of the LFA’s suggested cuts off the table, knowing lawmakers would never approve of them and not wanting to set some special interests hair on fire.

For example, said Schultz, $135 million in class size reduction – an original LFA suggested cut – was not sent to the Education Budget Committee – no way that popular program (which has questionable results) would be cut.

House Speaker Greg Hughes, who is retiring at the end of this year, said lawmakers may not ultimately want to spend the political capital to make some of the suggested tough cuts.

“But we are going to have some uncomfortable conversations” inside the budget subcommittees, said Hughes, because it’s lawmakers job to look for taxpayer-funded savings.

“This process won’t last unless we do our part on these (LFA) recommendations,” said Hughes."

Here is what you can do.  Executive Appropriations will pass a base budget next week.  We need providers and families to contact legislators and ask them to hold Baby Watch harmless from base budget reductions. 

To see the members of the Social Services Appropriations Committee go to this link and click on Members:

https://le.utah.gov/asp/interim/Commit.asp?Year=2018&Com=APPSOC  You can click on the individual names to find contact information.

To see the members of the Executive Appropriations Committee go to this link and click on Members:

https://le.utah.gov/asp/interim/Commit.asp?Year=2018&Com=APPEXE.  Again, you can click on the individual names to find contact information.

Multiple parents contacting their legislators results in messages being heard and influencing the outcome.  Please let your voice be heard.

A Few Things

The Utah State Legislature has authorized the TC-40D tax form to be used again this year.  This form allows families to claim a child eligible for early intervention as an additional dependent on the state taxes.  It is a form you keep with your records.  I will be emailing the form to eligible families in the next couple of weeks.  If your child was eligible for early intervention in 2017 and you don't receive a form by the last week of January, please let me know.  I don't have a report on our data base that lists all children enrolled or eligible during the year.

I have recently heard about the Olive Osmond Hearing Fund and wanted to share with you!  This is a fund that promotes hearing-health awareness and accommodates the needs of the deaf and hard-of-hearing.  They provide quality hearing aids to the deaf and hard-of-hearing, provide resources, share inspiring messages, experiences, examples and role models.  If your little one is in need of hearing help and your family has no other resources to acquire hearing aids, you can fill out an application and submit it from the website.  Check out the Olive Osmond Hearing Fund on Google for more information.

Please remember that if anyone in your family is ill and you have a home visit scheduled, contact your provider and let them know what is going on.  We strive to keep everyone healthy (our Early Intervention family and yours) throughout the winter months and all year long.  We want to provide your family the services your child needs in a healthy, happy environment.  The service provider will be able to determine if they feel comfortable coming into your home, so please contact them to let them know if someone in your family isn't feeling well.

Help for Parenting

Do you ever feel like your children should have come with a manual?  How do you know how to respond to a little one that is typically easy going and happy who suddenly becomes a mini-monster at the grocery store?  Can you teach children to listen and obey?  So many questions and no manual to help you find the answers you seek. 

There is a resource available to you!  The Centers for Disease Control (which provides a lot of answers beyond health) provides information on an online resource to help family members and caregivers interact positively with children.  It provides proven answers to common challenges so moms, dads, and caregivers can help two- to four-year-olds grow up happy and healthy.  Read free articles, watch videos, and practice exercises for building positive relationships with kids.

This resource is called "Essentials for Parenting Toddlers and Preschoolers" and can be found at this link:

https://www.cdc.gov/parents/essentials/index.html?utm_source=PAEEN+November+2017&utm_campaign=Build&utm_medium=email