Groundwork Ohio Supports HB 939 to Strengthen Early Intervention Services for Ohio’s Youngest Children
The following proponent testimony was delivered before the Ohio House Children and Human Services Committee by Lynanne Gutierrez on November 9. 2026.
Chair White, Vice Chair Salvo, Ranking Member Lett, and members of the House Children and Human Services Committee, thank you for receiving this testimony on behalf of Groundwork Ohio, the state’s leading early childhood policy, research and advocacy organization, in support of House Bill 939.
What Early Intervention Is
Early Intervention (EI) is Ohio's statewide system of coordinated services for families of infants and toddlers, from birth to age three, who have developmental delays or disabilities. The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) establishes EI programs in all 50 states. It brings therapists, service coordinators and specialists together around each family through an Individualized Family Service Plan similar to an Individualized Education Program (IEP) utilized for those aged three and up through their school district. Services are delivered in a child's natural environment, which for most families means their own home or a familiar child care setting. Nationally, about 540,000 infants and toddlers received these services in 2023. In Ohio, we serve around 30,000 young children annually with developmental delays.
Why Early Intervention Matters
The first three years are the most rapid period of brain development in a child's life and a vital window to address delays before they grow into larger challenges. When we act early, children build the cognitive, social and emotional skills that set the stage for school readiness and lifelong learning.
The results are well documented:
Children catch up. In recent federal reporting, about two-thirds of children served substantially improved their social-emotional skills, and about half caught up to age expectations.
Fewer children need special education. The National Early Intervention Longitudinal Study found that 42% of children who received early intervention did not need special education by kindergarten.
Taxpayers save. Early intervention programs can produce savings of up to $17 for every $1 spent by reducing the need for later special education and health services.[1] A recent six-state analysis shared by the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center found early intervention helped between 760 and 3,000 children per state avoid special education at age three, with one-year cost avoidance of $7.6 million to $68.2 million depending on the state.[2]
Families are supported. When a specialist visits the home, every caregiver can learn alongside the child at once, rather than one parent spending hours driving, especially in rural communities, to an off-site appointment in a less familiar setting.
Ohio Families Value Early Intervention
For many new parents of a child with special needs, EI is their first, and often only, connection to support. Their service coordinator and specialists become trusted partners who help them understand their child's needs, build their confidence as caregivers and connect them to their community. Families tell us they wish they didn't have to leave the program. When a child turns three and responsibility shifts to the local school district, many parents don't feel ready to transition out of the relationships that carried them through those early years.
Groundwork Ohio recently completed a three-month statewide listening tour, visiting every Ohio Senate district. Families we met on our statewide listening tour shared what the program has meant to them:
Franklin County: A mother was able to find a right-sized walker for her three-year-old daughter through early intervention and then pass it along to another family once her daughter outgrew it.
Scioto County: Specialists work closely with families to make use of equipment already in the home, such as a weighted vest, to meet each child's unique needs.
Lucas County: A mother shared that her adult child now works as a welder, thanks to the early intervention services they received as a young child.
These stories reflect data from a 2024 survey of more than 1,000 Ohio families that affirmed EI is an invaluable support. About one third of respondents had reported EI and 95% of parents who received EI reported that it was helpful or met their needs.[3]
What We Heard Across Ohio
As families and programs we met on our statewide listening tour shared what the program has meant to them. We heard consistent themes about needs to improve awareness, referrals and capacity:
Scioto County providers said referral partners such as pediatric clinicians are not always aware services are available and miss opportunities to refer families. One parent told us, "My kid is two, I didn't know I could access this sooner."
Athens County providers shared that local families are often overwhelmingly unaware of the rich intervention services available in their community.
Greene County providers described the success their specialists have seen by partnering with, and regularly providing services in, a child care center already familiar to young children.
Warren County child care and early learning providers praised their local early intervention program but said it needs more support.
Across Appalachia, specialists even told us working families mistakenly assume they must meet income eligibility criteria, so they never apply for these critical services.
Across the state, however, nearly every program expressed concern about their ability to adequately fund their program and EI staff to sustain even current capacity, let alone consider how services could be improved and expand.
Ohio's Over-Reliance on Local Funding Creates Uncertainty
Ohio is unique in how heavily it relies on local dollars, largely local county developmental disability funds, to deliver early intervention. The largest source of funding comes from states across the nation given that Federal Part C funding is limited, averaging about $1,200 per child nationally in 2023 and declining as enrollment grows, and state early intervention leaders across the country identify adequate funding as one of their most critical challenges.[4]
This month's election made the cost of our local reliance clear. Unofficial results show that 7 of the 12 county developmental disabilities levies on the ballot failed and only five passed.[5] In Champaign County, where the board provides early intervention for infants, the levy failed after the board had already cut $360,000, and leaders are now weighing difficult decisions about the future of services.[6] In Lawrence County, after a levy failure last year, early intervention continued only because the state stepped in with one year of temporary funding.[7] Prior to that temporary funding, more than 75 percent of the funding for this program came from local tax dollars.
A family's access to early intervention should not depend on the outcome of a local ballot. Balancing the state's role in funding this program and making EI required will give families with young children and local programs the certainty they need, and this is the right moment to begin.
Conclusion
HB 939 is the necessary next step as we work to make early intervention more sustainable, better meet the needs of Ohio's youngest children and their families, and improve the delivery of services across the state. Additional priority and investigation should continue about what other policy changes and levers exist to sustain and improve EI services for Ohio babies including how to maximize Medicaid for this purpose. The first years of life are a time of unparalleled potential and a vital window for intervention. Thank you to Chair White and Representative Odioso for championing this important legislation, and thank you to the full committee for your time and attention. I am happy to answer any questions.
[1] Linder, J. (2025). Early intervention boosts development, saves costs, and improves lifelong skills. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org-early-intervention-statistics/
[2] Emerald Consulting. (n.d.). Cost avoidance return on investment. Document provided to the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center by Maureen Greer, Executive Director at the IDEA Infant & Toddler Coordinators Association, via email on April 1, 2020.
[3] Groundwork Ohio. (2024). Family Voices Project Report: Survey 2 (Unpublished).
[4] 2023 ITCA Finance Survey Report, IDEA Infant & Toddler Coordinators Association (https://www.ideainfanttoddler.org/pdf/2023-ITCA-Finance-Survey-Results.pdf)
[5] https://dublinledger.com/articles/delaware-county-voters-pass-disabilities-levy-after-may-defeat-mw2t5pkm
