TRENTON — New Jersey youngsters with developmental delays could see $4 million in treatment aid restored, under a bill introduced Monday by two Bergen County lawmakers. Funding for the Early Childhood Intervention Program, lost in the fiscal 2011 budget signed by Gov. Chris Christie, would be diverted from an autism research account that is replenished with $1 surcharges on...
Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) and Assemblyman Gordon Johnson (D- Englewood) sponsored the autism funding bill.TRENTON — New Jersey youngsters with developmental delays could see $4 million in treatment aid restored, under a bill introduced Monday by two Bergen County lawmakers.
Funding for the Early Childhood Intervention Program, lost in the fiscal 2011 budget signed by Gov. Chris Christie, would be diverted from an autism research account that is replenished with $1 surcharges on motorists.
“From what we ascertained, they have enough to get them to the grants that were in the pipeline this year,” Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck, said about the New Jersey Autism Medical Research and Treatment Fund.
Weinberg is sponsoring the bill with Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, D-Englewood. The new funding would offset some families’ co-pays for services considered crucial at a young age, particularly in New Jersey, which has the country’s highest rate of autism.
The intervention program applies to children from birth through age 3 with developmental delays, including autism, and other disabilities, such as vision and hearing loss and emotional or behavioral disorders. Its services include assessment, medical care, nutrition assessment and therapies.
“When we were in the budget aspect of things, we heard from people,” Weinberg said. “This is a trauma to a family when they find out, and then they have to deal with how best to quickly get their children back on the best track possible.”
The state budgeted $82.8 million for intervention for fiscal 2011. It gets an additional $34 million from federal sources and $7 million from families who pay part of the cost of services.
Copayments are adjusted according to family size and income, and are not limited to people of little means.
In 2010, there was no co-pay for a family of four earning less than $64,500, according to the state Department of Health. A family that size earning between $64,501 and $65,000 was responsible for up to $221.67 a month. A four-person family with a yearly income of $370,500 paid a maximum $1,355.34.
For 2011, the copayment threshold would drop. A family of four would have no co-pay only if it made less than $55,000. A similar family with income up to $65,000 would see its co-pay lowered slightly, to $215.17. Those with the highest income would remain responsible for a maximum $1,344.54.
Weinberg sponsored the initial legislation to create a dedicated $1-per-motorist stream for autism research. That pool awarded $4,999,558 to New Jersey-based scientists this year.
The studies are being conducted by staff at Rutgers, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, the University of Medicine and Dentistry and Children’s Specialized Hospital.
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