Monroe County Executive Adam Bello calls for more support towards Early Intervention services

Saturday morning Monroe County Executive Adam Bello joined The Children’s Agenda, parents, and therapists urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign legislation pertaining to Early Intervention services at an event that took place at the Rochester Public Library’s Central Branch.

“We have thousands of kids across Monroe County who are receiving these services now. And it’s life-changing,” said Bello. “We don’t want to see any kid waiting on a waitlist for something as basic as speech therapy or occupational therapy that’s going to put them even further behind when they reach school.”

An average of 85% of early intervention claims was denied by commercial insurance from 2016/17 through 2020/21, and an average of 28% of claims was denied by Medicaid, according to figures provided at the event.

People in the crowd wore tee-shirts emblazoned with September is Early Intervention Awareness month.

The Monroe County Local Early Intervention Coordinating Council designated September as Early Intervention Awareness month.