State budget cuts could reduce autism services

Julie Koch worries about her two sons with autism. The Cape Girardeau mother wonders what their future will be like if proposed state budget cuts eliminate some of their therapy services.

She said she is not alone in her concerns. Other parents are just as worried, she said.

The Missouri Senate recently approved a spending plan cutting 43 percent of state funding for Missouri autism projects statewide, said Rachel Masters, director of autism services for the regional office of Easterseals.

From left, Sawyer, 11, Brett, 3, Peyton, 9, and Grant Koch, 7, pose for a portrait Monday in their home in Cape Girardeau.KASSI JACKSON

Masters said the regional office, headquartered in Cape Girardeau, provides autism services to 352 individuals in 19 counties in Southeast Missouri. Easterseals is one of three providers of autism services in Southeast Missouri receiving state funding as part of the Missouri Autism Project.

In all, the state allocated $8.75 million for autism projects in five regions of the state in fiscal 2018. But Masters said the Senate plan would cut $3.7 million statewide. The spending plan approved by the House did not cut funding, she said.

The spending bill now goes to a conference committee of House and Senate members to iron out the differences, Masters said. She and Koch hope the conference committee will restore funding.

Grant Koch, 7, uses the LAMP program on his iPad for communication Monday in his home in Cape Girardeau.KASSI JACKSON

In Southeast Missouri, state funding for the current fiscal year amounts to $1.55 million. Slightly more than $1 million goes to Easterseals. The Southeast Missouri State University Autism Center has been budgeted for more than $423,000 while Blue Sky Community Services receives just more than $63,000, according to the Missouri Department of Mental Health website.

Masters said the budget cuts, if left in the final measure, would hamper autism services.

�I think it is definitely going to decrease access to services,� she said, adding the governor previously withheld some funding, forcing Easterseals to eliminate two positions from its staff.

Brett Koch, 3, watches videos on his iPad for entertainment Monday in his home in Cape Girardeau.KASSI JACKSON

Both Masters and Koch said there is a waiting list for services in Southeast Missouri.

Koch and her husband, Jeffrey, have four sons. Two of them, Brett, 3, and Grant, 7, have been diagnosed with autism.

Koch said Easterseals and the Autism Center provide therapy services to Brett and Grant, including behavior, speech and music therapy.

Grant Koch, 7, uses the LAMP program on his iPad for communication Monday in his home in Cape Girardeau.KASSI JACKSON

Such therapies are important to help individuals with autism to grow up and be as independent as possible, she said.

�Kids with autism learn differently,� she added.

�We find it so sad and aggravating that funds are constantly being pulled from people who need it the most and who we feel morally compelled to help,� she wrote in an email to the Southeast Missourian.

Julie Koch sits with her son Grant, 7, for a portrait Monday in their home in Cape Girardeau.KASSI JACKSON

Koch expressed frustration over the recent Senate action, which occurred without any public notice to families dealing with autism. �We are so upset,� she said.

�This just seems so unnecessary,� she said of the possible spending cuts.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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