LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Therapists who work with the state as part of an early intervention services program are fighting for their first pay raise in 20 years.
Their services include vital programs like the Kentucky Early Intervention Services, also known as First Steps, and others that help in a child’s developmental growth.
Amy Lowe is a mother to 3-year-old Adam who has fought health challenges. “Adam was diagnosed at five months old with a rare, aggressive cancer neuroblastoma,” Lowe said.
Amy explains Adam has fought many big battles.
“Got a long road ahead of him. But, you know, the biggest thing is he’s in remission. And we know that other family stories, and very different than ours. So we just have a spirit of gratitude for where he is,” Lowe said.
She explains his growth requires lots of support. “But he would not be where he is, in part because of First Steps,” Lowe said.
The Kentucky Early Intervention System is a statewide service to children with developmental disabilities from birth to age 3 and their families. This ranges from services like occupational to physical therapy and more.
“He’s had PT (physical therapy) OT (occupational therapy), speech, registered dietitian, basically every service that they offer and he was able to be matched with providers. But I had not realized that it’s been over 20 years since they’ve had a pay raise,” Lowe said.
There’s a larger issue, she explains.
“Because of that, there are less therapists who are willing to work with First Steps, and that trickles down to there not being enough providers to help all of Kentucky’s children,” Lowe said.
Lisa Sheff has been an occupational therapist for 30 years. “Very much feel a calling with the little ones like this,” Sheff said.
Twenty-five of those years have been with First Steps.
“I love, love, love my job. But with the cost-of-living increasing, we have not had a pay rise. In fact, at one point we had a pay decrease because they felt the reimbursement was higher than the national average and it’s never gone back up,” Sheff said.
“So we are fighting a situation where therapists may not be drawn to come work in this environment because the pay is not significant compared to other jobs they could have, and also retaining providers who are already with First Steps,” said Steve Brown, who runs ASCB Therapy and coordinates with almost 100 therapy providers.
He said the state has over 700 therapists providing services through First Steps and from his experience, each therapist sees anywhere from 5 to 20 children on average.
“So when a therapist leaves, that’s 5 to 20 children who will not receive therapy,” Brown said.
He’s fought for a pay rate change in Frankfort.
In October’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services meeting, the Department for Public Health agreed to move forward with rate restructuring, but they need the state to allocate more money for the program in the budget.
Right now, depending on the type of service and location, pay ranges anywhere from $46 to $89 an hour.
“If you’re in a more remote location, the therapist could conceivably be driving 20, 30 or more miles,” Brown said. Miles that are not covered in the pay.
“Just seeing my child’s growth since he has been matched with one, I’m eternally grateful for them and it breaks my heart that there’s just not enough therapists to help some of these children in these families and unfortunately, it’s going to hurt the underserved community the most,” Lowe said.
Spectrum News 1 reached out to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. They said the Beshear administration is grateful for the services provided by the therapists. A spokesperson for the cabinet said in part: “Additional funds are needed to increase rates paid to KEIS providers, but increases won’t be possible if large cuts currently proposed by the House of Representatives for the Medicaid program are not corrected by the Senate in its budget proposal. We urge the Senate to restore full funding to Medicaid, so patients have access to the necessary health care services.”