{"id":9133,"date":"2025-10-20T17:22:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T17:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/9133\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T17:22:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T17:22:09","slug":"philadelphia-kids-face-delays-accessing-early-intervention-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/9133\/","title":{"rendered":"Philadelphia kids face delays accessing early intervention services"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia\u2019s free newsletter<\/a> to keep up with the city\u2019s public school system.<\/p>\n

When Kimberly Halevy\u2019s son Joshua was 3, she started hearing from his preschool that he was acting out. He rarely participated in circle time and had trouble playing with other kids.<\/p>\n

Halevy\u2019s friend had recently opened the preschool, and she liked that someone she knew took care of her son. But eventually, the preschool said it would only allow him back if he had a 1-to-1 aide to address his \u201cdisruptive\u201d behavior, Halevy said. <\/p>\n

At first, Halevy thought getting him that aide would be straightforward. But she now describes the effort to get her kid support through Philadelphia\u2019s federally mandated, publicly funded early intervention system as exhausting.<\/p>\n

\"AKimberly Halevy, 41, plays with her son, Joshua, 4, at their home in Philadelphia, PA. on Sunday, September 28, 2025. (Hannah Yoon for Chalkbeat) <\/p>\n

Though state evaluators found Joshua should receive multiple forms of therapy each week, it took months for any services to begin, Halevy said. Then, once providers contacted her, she said it became a \u201cguessing game\u201d whether her son would receive the home-based occupational therapy and specialized instruction he qualified for every week. <\/p>\n

\u201cI kept being mad at myself for not pushing,\u201d Halevy said. \u201cBut now I realize that it\u2019s just the program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Across Philadelphia, young kids like Joshua are waiting months and sometimes years for early intervention services that they are legally entitled to, according to families, therapy providers, and advocates Chalkbeat spoke with. <\/p>\n

Federal law states a child must receive services as soon as possible after an evaluation team completes their Individualized Education Program, or IEP. Pennsylvania has interpreted that to mean 14 days. But one provider said the list she can access of children waiting for speech therapy \u2014 one of several early intervention services \u2014 is sometimes more than 2,000 families long. <\/p>\n

Early intervention providers are under strain nationwide<\/a>, with not enough funding or staffing to meet the need. But in Philadelphia \u2014 home to 16% of the state\u2019s early intervention population \u2014 one player is largely responsible for the system: a 170-year-old nonprofit called Elwyn that the state pays to manage the publicly funded program. <\/p>\n

As Philly\u2019s early intervention system struggles to meet the needs of all kids, some providers and advocates say neither Elwyn nor the state officials who oversee the program are doing enough to ensure kids get services on time. <\/p>\n

In response to Chalkbeat\u2019s questions, Elwyn President and CEO Charles McLister said Elwyn does not comment on specific cases, but the organization works quickly to assess children and provide them with services. \u201cFor the vast majority of cases, services are provided within the defined window,\u201d said McLister.<\/p>\n

But McLister acknowledged that there can be delays due to family communication, transportation, scheduling, provider availability, and severe staffing shortages across the sector.<\/p>\n

Erin James, press secretary at the Pennsylvania Department of Education, said in a statement that the department stays in close contact with Elwyn throughout the year \u201cto remind them of their legal obligations.\u201d <\/p>\n

James did not respond to questions about service delays for Philadelphia families. But she said that early intervention programs often lack resources. \u201cCurrent funding levels for EI [early intervention] services are not sufficient because the population of students who qualify for EI services has been increasing for years,\u201d James said. <\/p>\n

\"AElwyn in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Carly Sitrin \/ Chalkbeat) <\/p>\n

In Philadelphia, the program\u2019s delays are a key reason many of the city\u2019s most vulnerable kids fall behind before they even start kindergarten, advocates say. Data from early intervention program reports<\/a> the state publishes shows Philly children in early intervention programs lag behind their peers elsewhere in key growth areas, like developing social emotional skills. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole idea of having to wait more than the required time is really putting kids at a disadvantage,\u201d said Inella Ray, director of parent advocacy and engagement at the advocacy organization Children First. \u201cBecause when kids don\u2019t have the support that they need, in today\u2019s current education or environment, they get pushed out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parents face delays accessing early intervention services<\/p>\n

Early intervention is part of the landmark Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which dictates that all children with disabilities must have access to a free and appropriate public education. Though each state creates and manages its own program, all kids through age 5 who are identified as having a developmental delay or disability are eligible.<\/p>\n

In Pennsylvania, the Department of Education oversees local early intervention programs for preschool-age kids. In almost every county, families get connected with services through an intermediary unit, a kind of regional education service agency. <\/p>\n

But in Philadelphia, things work differently. The state pays Elwyn a combination of state and federal dollars to administer the city\u2019s preschool early intervention program, along with a much smaller program in Chester. Last fiscal year, its contract was worth around $90 million. Elwyn is in charge of assessing children, developing their IEPs, and subcontracting with a network of providers for services they qualify for.<\/p>\n

When Halevy\u2019s kids\u2019 preschool said her son needed an aide, the preschool owner gave Halevy advice: phone Elwyn. So she did, and she was relieved when the organization told her they could fit Joshua in to begin his evaluation later that week.<\/p>\n

That was July 2024. She hoped Joshua would have services in time to be back at preschool by the following September. But soon, Halevy said she began hitting roadblocks. <\/p>\n

In August, she said she didn\u2019t hear much from Elwyn. Like other early intervention programs statewide, Elwyn often takes a two-week service break at the end of summer \u2014 one of many scheduled break periods during the year. <\/p>\n

But then when she did hear back that September, she learned Elwyn wouldn\u2019t consider providing a 1-to-1 aide without observing Joshua in his educational environment. But the preschool said he couldn\u2019t return to class unless he had someone there to specifically support him. <\/p>\n

At the end of September, when evaluators wrote Joshua\u2019s initial IEP, they documented that they discussed adding an aide to assist Joshua at preschool. But they wrote that because they could not observe Joshua in his educational environment, they did not have enough information to support that recommendation. \u201c[T]he family is in a difficult position,\u201d the team wrote on the IEP, which Chalkbeat has reviewed.<\/p>\n

Joshua\u2019s IEP states that he should receive occupational therapy and specialized instruction each week. The law requires services to begin within 14 days. But more than a month after, Joshua still wasn\u2019t receiving services, Halevy said.<\/p>\n

\"ASiblings Maya, 3, and Joshua, 4, play at their home in Philadelphia, PA. on Sunday, September 28, 2025.<\/p>\n

(Hannah Yoon for Chalkbeat) <\/p>\n

At the time, Halevy was stretched thin. She was also working to get services for her 2-year-old daughter, who struggled with speech, through the separate early intervention program that serves children up to age 3 run by the city. <\/p>\n

For Halevy, sorting out her daughter\u2019s services in the birth to 3 program was simple. Service providers quickly began contacting her and therapists started showing up for sessions. But for her son, nothing.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne day, I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh my gosh, what\u2019s going on with Josh?\u2019 and I start calling every number I had at Elwyn,\u201d said Halevy. <\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until two more months later, in November, when he finally began to receive occupational therapy, she said recently after reviewing text messages. In December, she said his special instruction began.<\/p>\n

Early intervention IEPs not always followed<\/p>\n

Elwyn\u2019s Philadelphia program is the largest in the state, serving around 11,000 preschool-age children, according to the most recent data<\/a> from the 2023-24 school year. The organization first won its contract for early intervention services in Philadelphia in 1998. <\/p>\n

But its outcomes for kids are behind the rest of Pennsylvania. <\/p>\n

The state requires early intervention programs to report data on how kids progress in certain areas, like social emotional learning and acquiring new skills. State program reports<\/a> show that for the last five years of data, children in Elwyn\u2019s Philadelphia program have been less likely to progress in all three growth categories compared with the state average.<\/p>\n

Margie Wakelin, a senior attorney at the Pennsylvania-based Education Law Center, said her team has assisted more than 80 Philadelphia families in the last year whose kids\u2019 education was disrupted at least in part because they couldn\u2019t access appropriate services from Elwyn. The vast majority of those children, she said, were Black and Brown kids affected by poverty.<\/p>\n

Some families hire attorneys to help them access the services they\u2019re entitled to, or get pro bono representation from organizations like the Education Law Center. Many who win their cases get compensatory education, often in the form of money the family can use to pay for services after the case is over. <\/p>\n

But that doesn\u2019t make up for lost time as children quickly age out of early intervention. Research shows that children\u2019s brains develop more rapidly between birth to 5<\/a> than any other time of their life. Many families, Wakelin said, have also had their children suspended from preschool<\/a> or made to only attend partial days because of their disabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a critical period for kids to have access to high quality education,\u201d said Wakelin. A system that identifies children as needing services but doesn\u2019t follow through, she added, is \u201creally failing our kids.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n

McLister, Elwyn\u2019s CEO, said the organization has learned that, in some cases, children are suspended from their preschool programs because of learning or behavioral needs. \u201cElwyn is not part of this decision making and often learns about it after the fact,\u201d he said. He added that the organization is developing tools \u201cthat will help us understand the frequency in which this happens\u201d and is creating additional resource materials for families.<\/p>\n

State reports show that Elwyn\u2019s program is successful in some areas, like evaluating 97% of kids within 60 days, the state-required timeline. But that\u2019s just the first step in what advocates say often becomes a month-long process to get services.<\/p>\n

\"AKimberly Halevy, right, and her son Joshua enjoy treats from an ice cream truck after a recent session with a special instructor. (Rebecca Redelmeier \/ Chalkbeat) <\/p>\n

Though the law is clear that kids should receive services within 14 days of their IEP being written, the state does not publish information on how long kids wait for services after an evaluation, or how many service interruptions they\u2019ll experience when providers are no longer available. <\/p>\n

When it comes to Elwyn\u2019s performance, CEO McLister said that students\u2019 growth data does not account for the unique challenges of providing services in Philadelphia. The children Elwyn serves have higher needs than the state average, he said, with higher incidences of developmental delays and a greater prevalence of multiple other challenges, such as limited English proficiency, economic disadvantages, and other social risk factors. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor younger children, these factors produce more modest gains,\u201d said McLister.<\/p>\n

McLister emphasized that Elwyn has been successful in evaluating the vast majority of children on-time, and said the most common reason an evaluation falls outside the 60-day window is a parent cancelling an initial evaluation appointment and needing it to be rescheduled. <\/p>\n

He said delays in getting kids services are often the result of scheduling challenges and staffing shortages \u2014 95% of service issues related to speech and language services, he said, are due to a lack of staff. He said other delays occur when families move or change their child\u2019s preschool enrollment, and when providers return kids to the \u201cneeds list,\u201d meaning they stop service for that child, which happens \u201cfor a variety of reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Joshua, getting a consistent special instructor, a position meant to support Joshua\u2019s learning, has been impossible, Halevy said. Her text history, which she reviewed recently, documents the challenges: The first special instructor who contacted her never visited and stopped responding to texts, she said. The next person was more helpful and saw Joshua a few times, but then abruptly quit. Now, after more than a month of no special instruction, a new provider comes mostly regularly, Halevy said.<\/p>\n

Access to occupational therapy has been slightly better, Halevy said. For the first several months of service, Joshua\u2019s occupational therapist showed up inconsistently and seemed rushed, Halevy said. Now, after working out a schedule, she consistently comes around once a week.<\/p>\n

Early childhood intervention needs more funding, some say<\/p>\n

These and other challenges aren\u2019t unique to Philadelphia families. But preschool operators and early intervention providers say there are particular and longstanding problems in Philly.<\/p>\n

Two years ago, Sharon Neilson, former director of the Woodland Academy Child Development Center in West Philadelphia, was part of a group pushing to bring attention to problems in the city\u2019s early intervention program. Council members held a hearing<\/a> about parents\u2019 challenges accessing services, and Neilson and other providers met with Elwyn.<\/p>\n

At the time, Neilson said, she was hopeful that things would improve. But since then, she said, \u201cwe\u2019ve actually seen it get worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neilson, who now works as support staff at Woodland Academy, said of the 22 children enrolled at the preschool, about four currently receive services from Elwyn, and three more are going through the process of getting evaluated. <\/p>\n

The preschool helps families navigate the process, in part because submitting required paperwork and scheduling evaluations can create additional barriers, she said. But even with additional help, in her experience it still usually takes months for kids to be evaluated and services to begin, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s the saddest thing for me,\u201d Neilson said. \u201cThe families are very frustrated because they don\u2019t know what to do \u2014 they just know that they need help for their child, but it\u2019s just very hard to navigate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Officials say a lack of resources is largely to blame. Over the past decade, the number of preschool-age children in Pennsylvania receiving early intervention services has grown by a third, and funding hasn\u2019t kept up.<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania Department of Education spokesperson Erin James said that is why Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed increasing funding for preschool early intervention by $14.5 million in the state budget. However, months past the budget deadline, lawmakers remain at an impasse over the budget and early education providers are further strained<\/a>. <\/p>\n

One provider who contracts with Elwyn said concerning inequities exist in Elwyn\u2019s program. (Chalkbeat is not naming the provider due to her fears of retaliation from Elwyn.) It\u2019s an accepted norm, the provider said, that kids in nicer neighborhoods get picked up for service much faster than those in poorer neighborhoods. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an access and equity issue across the board,\u201d said the provider. \u201cAnd that\u2019s exacerbated by the shortage of providers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about those access and equity concerns, McLister said that to address some related challenges, this year Elwyn is implementing more targeted training for staff and plans to develop a family resource center. He said the organization has also employed internal speech language pathologists to assign to high-priority cases.<\/p>\n

\"ADotan Halevy, left, plays his guitar with his daughter, Maya, 3, at their home in Philadelphia, PA. on Sunday, September 28, 2025. (Hannah Yoon for Chalkbeat) <\/p>\n

When families reach out to Elwyn, McLister said staff provide them with documentation and verbal explanations of how the process works to ensure families understand their rights, next steps, and how to give consent for evaluations.<\/p>\n

The organization also periodically notifies providers of historically underserved ZIP codes to encourage providers to serve kids equitably across the city, and includes provisions in its contracts meant to \u201cpromote fairness and accountability.\u201d McLister said Elwyn places subcontractors on corrective action plans if the organization \u201cdetects patterns of non-acceptance that disproportionately impacts underserved areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Halevy, she says her family has gotten relatively lucky. They were able to get Joshua started on an evaluation quickly. And she\u2019s been able to get new therapists when others stop showing up.<\/p>\n

But her family\u2019s biggest piece of luck, she said, is that her husband recently got a new job with better health insurance. She plans to use that to get some of the services her kids need. That means she no longer will completely rely on Elwyn. <\/p>\n

She just wishes she could erase the months of waiting and worrying about why Joshua\u2019s services took so long to start. <\/p>\n

\u201cBasically, what happened is we fell through the cracks,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Rebecca Redelmeier is a reporter at Chalkbeat Philadelphia. She writes about public schools, early childhood education, and issues that affect students, families, and educators across Philadelphia. Contact Rebecca at rredelmeier@chalkbeat.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia\u2019s free newsletter to keep up with the city\u2019s public school system. When Kimberly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[7623,734,1510,7624,7628,2726,7626,7627,539,28,69,71,70,7625,3315],"class_list":{"0":"post-9133","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-chalkbeat","9":"tag-children","10":"tag-family","11":"tag-freelance","12":"tag-joshua","13":"tag-kids","14":"tag-kimberly-halevy","15":"tag-maya","16":"tag-pa","17":"tag-pennsylvania","18":"tag-philadelphia","19":"tag-philadelphia-headlines","20":"tag-philadelphia-news","21":"tag-philly","22":"tag-students"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}