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Marathon County Special Education outlines Birth to 3 services and funding mix
Summary
Marathon County Special Education presented its Birth to 3 program operations, funding sources and outcomes, reporting expanded caseloads across three counties and satisfaction results.
Marathon County Special Education presented an update to the Health & Human Services Committee on the federally mandated Birth to 3 early-intervention program, describing services, staffing, funding and recent trends.
Kelly Kapitz, director of Marathon County Special Education, and Tanya Carter, Birth to 3 manager, told the committee the program serves eligible infants and toddlers with developmental delays across Marathon, Lincoln and Langlade counties. They said the program is voluntary and focused on home-based intervention and family engagement to help children reach developmental milestones.
Kapitz explained that Marathon County Special Education is a separate entity that partners with county departments and North Central Health Care to deliver services. Tanya Carter said the program served 75 families across the three counties in 2024 and employs 15 staff including speech-language pathologists, physical and occupational therapists, service coordinators and office staff.
Funding sources were described as threefold: a federal grant (managed locally by North Central Health Care), county maintenance-of-effort payments, and private/Medicaid billing. Kapitz provided a funding breakdown: the federal grant represents about 34% of revenue, county payments about 45%, and private/Medicaid about 21%. She stressed the program is subject to statewide compliance and quality reviews; the three counties meet both compliance and quality expectations.
Program goals for 2025–26 include maintaining high-quality services, improving outcomes for eligible children, enhancing family engagement and supporting staff professional development. Kapitz and Carter said family satisfaction surveys show overwhelmingly positive results and that families report the program has had a beneficial impact on day-to-day life.
The committee asked for clarification about partnerships, reporting and service capacity; Kapitz said staff travel to homes across the three counties and noted the program works with 19 school districts. No formal action or funding request was made during the update.
