Parents speak out on Missouri First Steps, while governor spins

Via The Temple Report: While concerned parents traveled to Jefferson City to testify on behalf of Missouri’s endangered First Steps program, Governor Matt Blunt tried to spin away his intention to eliminate the child care program.

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

The largest hearing room used by the Missouri House could not contain all the parents and children who flocked to the Capitol Wednesday to try to rescue the First Steps early childhood program.

And on a day when Gov. Matt Blunt repeated his promise that disabled infants and toddlers would continue receiving services without the First Steps program, many parents could not contain their frustration.

Doug Riggs, who traveled from his home in Kirkwood with his son, told lawmakers that Blunt has hacked away the program without thinking through how more than 8,000 children will get the services they need.

“If our governor has a plan for offering” those services, he said, “then by all means show us the plan. And in the meantime don’t allow a single dollar to be cut from the First Steps program.”

Riggs was one of at least 200 parents who lined up to testify before the House Education Appropriations Committee Wednesday to criticize Blunt’s plan to eliminate the $22.7 million program.

Most came with their children in tow, holding infants as they told lawmakers how the program had helped overcome developmental delays. Some dressed their kids in homemade T-shirts protesting the cuts; others went to the trouble of having shirts printed professionally. A few parents simply held up photos of the children, knowing that time would allow only a portion to testify.

From the Springfield News Leader:

“Do you think it’s kind of ironic that we’re spending all this money to keep them alive, and we’re not following through?” asked Rep. Scott Rupp, R-Wentzville.

Parents in the packed hearing room held children in their laps or over their shoulders as they sat, legs crossed, on the floor.

“I cannot imagine living in a community that cannot support these children and families,” said Kelly Lacina of Faucett, who has a 7-month-old daughter with Down syndrome. “… To cut this program is, to me, unconscionable.”

Earlier in the afternoon, parents submitted to Blunt’s office a petition reportedly signed by more than 20,000 people asking that First Steps be funded.

The $27.3 million program relies on $16.9 million in state general revenue. The rest of the money comes from the federal government in the form of grants or Medicaid funds.

Blunt talked about First Steps at length during a news conference he called Wednesday morning to announce his nominee for budget director.

It’s the state’s budget situation — with the loss of one-time money and some federal funds — that requires such cuts, Blunt has said.

“We need to make some changes …,” he said Wednesday, adding that First Steps has had problems with billing and doesn’t operate as efficiently as it should.

“I am making the commitment, though, that children who receive services from First Steps today and need services from First Steps today are going to continue to have access to those services.”

The first options, though, should be through private insurance or Medicaid, the governor said.

The governor should be ashamed to prop up Medicaid as a substitute, considering that he intends to slash $626 million from the program, as I posted yesterday. And even Blunt has publicly admitted the inadequacies of private insurance.

The brute fact is that Matt Blunt is opposed to a government role in public health and welfare, so much so that he would rather eliminate a valued program than fix it.

Once again, some simple steps you can take in support of First Steps:

• Contact your Missouri legislator.

• Sign this online petition, currently at the 18,000 33,000 signature mark.
• Contact the media - newspapers, TV, radio.
• And be sure to let Governor Blunt know just how you feel about it.