FW: Children 1st Program-Your Action is Needed!

[Guest guest]

Early intervention is so important. Read the e-mail below on how this could impact our most vulnerable population. Please let your voice be heard and take action. Debbie Dobbs, MSMaster of ScienceEducational Consultant & Child AdvocateHealth Care Consulting Services cell faxdebbie@...www.debbiedobbs.com Find me on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/DebbieDobbsAdvocateJoin me on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/pub/debbie-dobbs-ms/14/835/14a CONFIDENTIAL & PRIVELEGEDInformation contained in this communication is confidential and privileged. It is not meant to represent legal or medical advice, but rather advice given based on my knowledge as the parent of a child with disabilities, a trained Parent Advocate by the GA Advocacy Office, a member of the Council of Parent Advocates & Attorneys, by working in the medical industry for over 20 years, training received from Pete on Special Education Law and Advocacy, and medical coding and documentation courses. Please do not forward without my permission. From: Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities Sent: Friday, February 10, 2012 9:44 AMTo: debbiedobbs@...Subject: Children 1st Program-Your Action is Needed! The Children 1st program was created in 1994 as the single point of entry for families who have a child birth to age 5 who is identified as at risk for developmental delays. Over 25% of children born in Georgia (150,000 births a year) are at risk for developmental delays. Local health departments connect with parents whose children are at risk and provide screenings for developmental delays and then referral to programs such as Babies Can’t Wait. In addition, Children 1st has a visiting nurse program to assist families and the Department of Human Services, Division of Family and Children Services refers 4,000 - 6,000 children a year to Children 1st because of risk of abuse or neglect. Without Children 1st, approximately 47,000 children would not be identified as needing health care or supports during the early years of child development. The issue: The federal government discontinued the supplemental TANF funds that Georgia and other states received. This resulted in a $2 million reduction to the Children 1st program for SFY 12 and a $2.8 million reduction for SFY 13. The immediate impact of this reduction is that over 8500 low birth weight and very low birth weight newborns will not receive home nurse visits and approximately 30,000 newborns will not be screened for potential developmental delays and then linked to appropriate medical/developmental services if they meet the eligibility for that support. Action:Either the federal dollars must be replaced with state funds or the program will be eliminated. Please call or write your legislator and urge that they replace the funding for Children 1st in the Department of Public Health 2013 Budget. Find your legislators here: http://www.votesmart.org/ D. Nobbie, PhDDeputy DirectorGeorgia Council on Developmental Disabilities2 Peachtree, Suite 26-230Atlanta, GA 30303 (Fax)1-888-ASK-GCDDwww.gcdd.org Get Social with GCDD: Click Here to OptOut of receiving future emails from this person or organization.