BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | ACR 77| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: ACR 77 Author: Mark Stone (D), et al. Amended: 7/9/15 in Assembly Vote: 21 ASSEMBLY FLOOR: Read and adopted, 7/9/15 SUBJECT: California Early Intervention Services Act SOURCE: Children Now First 5 Association of California DIGEST: This resolution makes legislative findings and declaration related to children's development and urges the Legislature to leverage existing efforts and statutes to ensure an accountable, results-oriented, and coordinated network of resources in order to provide multidisciplinary early identification and intervention services and supports to California infants and toddlers. ANALYSIS: This resolution makes the following legislative findings: 1)The period between a child's birth and third birthday is a time of intense and ongoing development across the cognitive, motor, language, and social-emotional domains. 2)Adversity during the early years can impair development, and has a cumulative impact, with children exposed to maltreatment and additional risk factors facing increased likelihood of ACR 77 Page 2 having one or more delays in their cognitive, language, or emotional development. 3)Unaddressed developmental delays and disabilities result in persistently impaired learning and health outcomes for children. 4)One in four California children have moderate or higher risk for a developmental delay, such as speech or language impairment, and that nationally one in every 68 children were affected by autism spectrum disorder in 2014. 5)The American Academy of Pediatrics recommend routine, regular, and formalized developmental and behavioral screening for all infants and toddlers as the most effective way of identifying children in need of supports and services. Fewer than one-third of California infants and toddlers received the recommended developmental and behavioral screenings according to 2011-12 parent reported data. 6)Nearly three out of four California children with special health care needs under three years of age do not receive early intervention services they could benefit from, and the 2012 annual report for California's Early Start program shows that it serves fewer infants and toddlers with early intervention services than the national average. 7)A system of universal developmental and behavioral screenings should work hand in hand with a robust early intervention system, and should be linked by facilitated family-focused referral, care coordination, child-centered health homes, and information-sharing mechanisms to guide and support families while maintaining accountability. ACR 77 Page 3 This resolution recognizes that every child who needs comprehensive health and early intervention services and supports in order to achieve his or her developmental potential should have those services easily accessible, sufficient, responsive, timely, and of high quality. This resolution urges the Legislature to leverage existing efforts and statutes to ensure an accountable, results-oriented, and coordinated network of resources in order to provide multidisciplinary early identification and intervention services and supports to California infants and toddlers. Comments According to the author, "Children need access to developmental screening tools to ensure they can access appropriate resources and care. While most experts in the health field agree early screening is important for the future development of children, many children are not being properly screened. Seventy-two percent or 1.7 million Californian children are not being screened with recommended tools, putting them at risk for late or no identification of developmental or behavioral delays. The problem is especially pronounced for children of color; for instance, Latino children are diagnosed with autism an average of 2.5 years later than white children. When children are not diagnosed with developmental delays or other problems, they may not receive the care they need and may fall further behind. When delays are not early identified during children's first years of life, they must wait to get the help they need when they enroll in school. Since development is often sequential, a developmental or behavioral delay can often cause more problems if it is not identified and if the child does not access the appropriate care. Without proper intervention treatment, developmentally delayed children may experience academic and social hardships. ? It has been shown that the earlier the identification and intervention, the more beneficial to children and families because it strengthens families' ability to support ACR 77 Page 4 their child's growth and development while maintaining the greatest cost effectiveness." FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:NoLocal: No SUPPORT: (Verified7/31/15) Children Now (co-source) First 5 Association of California (co-source) Association of Regional Center Agencies Autism Speaks Center for Autism and Related Disorders Family Resource Centers Network of California Fight Crime Invest in Kids California First 5 Fresno County First 5 Monterey County First 5 San Luis Obispo First 5 Santa Clara County First 5 Santa Cruz County Lucille Packard Stanford Children's Health ZERO TO THREE Western Office OPPOSITION: (Verified7/31/15) None received Prepared by:Melissa Ward / SFA / (916) 651-1520 8/13/15 13:13:45 **** END **** ACR 77 Page 5