Preschool-age children practiced letter sounds, worked on puzzles and cooked in a play kitchen in Dunmore classrooms.
The children, receiving support for developmental delays or disabilities, are part of a record number of 3- to 5-year-olds enrolled in early intervention programs throughout Pennsylvania.
During the 2023-24 school year, the latest data available from the state, 69,287 preschool-age children received services statewide. That’s a 20% increase since the 2018-19 school year, the last school year before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Northeastern Educational Intermediate Unit provides services for children and families in Lackawanna and Susquehanna counties. As of last month, 1,146 children received support, a 58% increase from September four years ago. With enrollment increasing as the school year progresses, enrollment is expected to easily surpass the June total of 1,347 last year.
“We need more space,” NEIU Executive Director Kathleen Sottile said, in the Dunmore building the agency opened six years ago. “We hope to have a plan identified by the spring to open up a state-of-the-art early intervention center, so we're really excited about that.”
Help available
Pennsylvania's early intervention program provides services to families with children, from birth to age 5, with developmental delays and disabilities. The support can focus on the following areas of development: physical, including vision and hearing; cognitive; communication; social or emotional; and adaptive.
With funding from state and federal sources, children receive services at no cost to families. The state works with providers, who serve entire counties or groups of counties. Services are provided at early intervention centers, daycares, preschools and homes. Programs also provide transportation.
While early intervention enrollment had grown before the pandemic, a surge happened shortly after services resumed. Research shows that children born shortly before or during the pandemic had a greater number of developmental and behavioral issues.
A Columbia University study found in 2022 that babies born during the pandemic’s first year scored slightly lower on a developmental screening test of social and motor skills at 6 months, compared to babies born just before the pandemic. Children born at the start of the pandemic are now in kindergarten.
Colleen Penzone, director of early intervention program for the NEIU, said the pandemic helped increase awareness of the programs available. She wants to continue to make sure people are aware.
Staff now speaks at libraries, distributes flyers at parks and makes sure that medical providers — from pediatricians to urgent care centers — have information.
“We just want people to know where to refer their child if they are having any type of developmental delays,” Sottile said.
Increase in Wayne County
The Wayne County Consortium provided services to 400 children last school year. When Beth Gregory started as preschool supervisors in 2011, the program served 295 students.
Gregory doesn’t have formal data or research on why enrollment has grown, but said the number of students who qualify solely for speech therapy support has increased over the last few years.
This number has increased as tablets, phones and other screens are more available in homes, she said.
“Young children may be ‘entertained’ during the day with such devices and do not have the opportunities to communicate/talk/play with others,” she wrote. “Thus, leading to speech and/or developmental delays.”
The consortium has hired another speech therapist as well as a teacher who visits daycares, preschools and homes to support the growing numbers.
Learning in Laflin
The Hazleton Area School District provides early intervention services to preschool-age students in both Luzerne and Wyoming counties.
“Our referrals have grown astronomically over the last, I'd say 10 years. It's probably tripled,” said Lisa Krzywicki, early intervention coordinator.
The program now provides services to 1,350 children ages 3-5. It operates classrooms throughout the area, including at the Hazleton YMCA, Misericordia University and Luzerne County Community College. Hazleton Academy North opened at Oblates of St. Joseph Seminary in Laflin last year.
“I think the numbers just seem to grow, and the children are changing and ever evolving with their needs,” Krzywicki said.
In Laflin last week, children began their morning routine. They sat at tables and worked on fine motor skills, putting together puzzles, sorting objects and building with blocks.
“We know that if we work with children early in their school-age career, that we'll see less special education services when we get to school age,” Krzywicki said. “Early intervention works.”
How to get help
If you or a family member have a concern about a child’s development, contact Pennsylvania Statewide CONNECT, 1-800-692-7288. The family will be referred to a local early intervention program for a developmental screening.
More information is available here.
