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Bridget's Path warns loss of $1M infant-vitality line would force program cuts and closures
Summary
Bridget's Path, a licensed residential infant care center for substance-exposed newborns, told the committee that removal of a $1 million line in HB 96 would make the program unsustainable, force a 50% operational reduction and could push newborns into NICUs and foster care.
Jill Kingston, founder and president of Bridget's Path, testified that the Senate's elimination of a $1,000,000 line item in the Department of Children and Youth's infant vitality funding would undercut the legislature's prior directive and make her Dayton-based residential infant care center financially unsustainable. "Without the funding, Bridget's Path quite literally cannot stay open," Kingston said.
Nut graf: Bridget's Path operates licensed residential infant care for newborns experiencing neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), combining inpatient medical withdrawal care with family-centered wraparound services. Kingston told the Senate Finance Committee that the General Assembly previously required coordination between the Department of Medicaid and Department of Children and Youth to develop a sustainable reimbursement model; she said the Senate's cut would nullify that work and force reductions in services.
Kingston said the program has cared for nearly 300 babies and their families and reported an 85% rate of keeping infants out of foster care when families participate. She said the program had begun steps to reduce operations by 50% because donations have been exhausted and the infant vitality funding was removed. "We have a waiting list and we are turning away babies and families," she told senators.
Committee members asked no substantive follow-up during this portion of the hearing. Bridget's Path asked lawmakers to restore the $1,000,000 infant-vitality line so residential infant care centers can complete the reimbursement rules and continue to offer their model as an alternative to NICU hospitalization and foster placement.
Ending: Kingston invited senators to visit the Dayton facility and see the model for themselves, and urged restoration of the line item in the omnibus amendment to keep the program operating.
