Monica Davey, a federal lawyer, has struggled for two years to get health and education services for her son, Caleb.
Now 6, Caleb is very bright but has a lot of physical problems, Davey said. He has enough trouble with other students in his preschool classes, but his teacher was even worse.
“She would say, ‘Eww, Caleb, why are you always drooling?’ ” Davey recalled. “She created a nickname of him for his stuttering. She had the other kids call him by this name.”
Fed up, Davey hired an educational advocate and asked her what she could do to get help for Caleb. The aide said, “Move to Montgomery County.”
Now Davey is a plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit that alleges that despite millions in federal funds designed to help D.C.’s youngest children overcome their disabilities, the District of Columbia routinely ignores the rights and the needs of its most vulnerable citizens.
City officials, from schools spokeswoman Mafara Hobson to Department of Human Services Deputy Director Keith Cross, declined comment for this story.
Under federal law, state governments are required to seek out infants and toddlers with disabilities. The hope is that by intervening early in the children’s lives, officials can either conquer or mitigate the children’s problems. Experts say such early intervention services are critical and help governments reduce their later special education payments and even reduce their welfare and jail populations.
“The reality is, for them to achieve their maximal potential, you really need to get them early,” said Dr. Nathaniel Beers, director of the Children’s Health Center at Children’s Hospital.
But D.C. continues to lag behind in providing the necessary services needed? U.S. Department of Education statistics show. The city ranks dead last in the percentage of children receiving early intervention.
The D.C. school system tops the nation, however, in the percentage of its students that need special education. Nearly one out of every five children in D.C. schools has some kind of impairment. It will cost the public more than $300 million to help them.
Where is the disconnect? Part of the problem, critics say, is that D.C.’s criteria for early-intervention services are too stringent. Officials will only provide services to a child if developmental tests show the child to be in the 50th percentile or worse for his or her age group. Most jurisdictions, including Montgomery and Fairfax counties, provide services when children lag behind the 75th percentile.
Another problem is a lack of funding. D.C. only spent $2.1 million on early intervention last year — and none of the money came from the local government, according to city records. That’s less than 1 percent of the total it spent on special education
The largest problem, critics say, is that the bureaucracy simply isn’t up to the challenge.
“It’s very difficult to provide the services in the District,” said Lori Ann Madhok, 37, an early childhood development expert who recently stopped serving children in the District after 15 years. “There’re just so many hoops that you have to jump through.”
Madhok didn’t make the decision lightly. She started her business after her foster daughter, 4-year-old Tenisha Barnes, died of AIDS.
Six months after Tenisha’s death, Montgomery County officials called with good news: They were finally ready to give Tenisha the help that D.C. denied her.
“I had to tell them, ‘You’re too late,’ ” Madhok, told The Examiner. “Every family deserves services for their child. And they shouldn’t have to wait.”
