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Committee renews state‑mandated children and youth special‑health care needs agreement and approves new inclusion funding
Summary
The Human Services Committee approved renewal of the state‑mandated Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN) agreement and accepted a new state funding allocation for a community accessibility and inclusion component that will fund group-based early intervention services in Chautauqua County.
The Chautauqua County Human Services Committee approved renewal of the county’s agreement to provide the state‑mandated Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN) program and separately authorized a new community accessibility and inclusion component funded by New York State.
Lacey Wilson, public health director, described the CYSHCN program as a long‑running, state‑mandated service that reaches roughly 200 to 300 children in the county each year. She told the committee the state has added a funding stream to support locally designed strategies that increase access to services for children and families with special health care needs.
"This program serves typically between 200 and 300 children every year," Wilson said. She said the county’s early intervention staff have piloted group‑based therapy sessions — combining occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech pathology — at community sites so multiple children can receive services at once. Wilson said the model reduces per‑child costs while increasing social benefits for families.
Wilson said the county has a strategic plan for how it would use the new funds and must submit the plan to the state for approval. She told committee members the county’s pilot was among the first in the state to use this group model within early intervention.
Committee members asked for clarifications about funding amounts and program history. Wilson said the allocation for the community accessibility and inclusion component for the current funding cycle is $334,340 and noted that the CYSHCN work has been embedded in early intervention programs for 15 to 20 years.
Both the overall renewal and the new accessibility component were approved by voice votes.
The resolutions were listed on the agenda as "authorizing agreement for the children and youth with special health care needs program" and "authorizing agreement for the children and youth with special healthcare needs program, community accessibility and inclusion component."
