Chair Gutiérrez asks Betty about urgent needs for special needs

And Betty, I have one question for you.

Thank you so much for your advocacy on behalf of families with special needs.

I know at the last hearing you kind of shared where some of those gaps remained.

Based on what you heard today on kind of the

proposed expansion to 10,000 seats for 2K, for example.

Is there like an urgent list of program or support where you feel this is absolutely necessary?

I mean, expanding from 2,000 to 10,000 is a lot.

It's no longer a pilot.

Kind of what is your list of urgent, urgent focus on for families with special needs considering this vast expansion?

Yeah, so I think to highlight from the ones I listed in the testimony would be ensuring that there is a process

for providers to be able, when the provider itself cannot meet the needs of a child with a disability, and again, many will be able to support the students with disabilities in their program, but for children with more significant needs,

really being able to have, for the provider and the parent, a mechanism to be able to request accommodations, to request additional supports, and to consider whether some of those models that we have for 3K and pre-K

might be necessary for two-year-olds as well, where there may be a more specialized setting, perhaps a smaller class ratio

for children with disabilities with experienced staff, or located in programs that have historically served children with disabilities, be that early intervention centers or programs that run preschool special education classes.

I love that.

Again, this is really focusing on children with the most significant needs.

Sure.

And for parents of two-year-olds, potentially.

How do they need to be prompted to engage in these conversations with their provider?

I know that I think with what I'm most familiar with in 3K and pre-K, obviously, and they've said this, it's different.

It could be very different.

What are some of those prompts that...

Providers can be on the lookout or that we can just share with parents today about if their two-year-old is involved is enrolled in a program or just in general kind of what are some of those like questions that we can pose so they can start those conversations with their providers

yeah so some children may come in already having been or already participating in early intervention and so those families already have been working with developmental providers and service providers in EI and it's having those providers be able to come

serve their child in 2k but for many families this is going to be their first time having their child in any type of educational setting or program and so that's when developmental screenings become really important and those conversations with families

on understanding that children develop differently understanding where their child is in their stage of development and that there are additional resources and supports that can help their child meet specific milestones

Excellent.

Thank you.

Thank you all so much for your testimony.

Appreciate it.