BATON ROUGE (AP) — Middle- and upper-income parents whose children receive services through the Early Steps program would have to pay a portion of the costs, under a bill approved Thursday by the House Health and Welfare Committee.

Early Steps is an early intervention program that offers therapy services for children up to 3 years old who are having troubles with speech, vision and motor control development. About 9,000 children receive services each year.

The proposal (House Bill 375) pushed by the state Department of Health and Hospitals would allow the agency to create a cost-share for families on a sliding scale based on their income.

Any family with annual income of less than 250 percent of the federal poverty level — $55,884 for a family of four — would continue to receive the services for free. DHH estimates about 2,000 families annually would have to pay a fee for the services.

“I think it’s a way to maintain the great services of Early Steps,” said Rep. Frank Hoffmann, R-West Monroe, sponsor of the bill.

The Jindal administration assumes families will begin paying in its 2013-14 budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. More than $1.7 million in fee payments are anticipated in the budget next year, used to shrink state spending on Early Steps.

The fee schedule isn’t included in the measure, allowing DHH to set the rates. The department is proposing to charge a maximum of $125 per month for people on the lowest end of the fee scale.

Laura Brackin, assistant secretary for DHH’s Office for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities, said 20 other states have some charge for families in their similar programs.

The committee approved the bill without objection. It moves to the House for debate.

Brackin said in other states that have charged fees for the services, the number of children served has dropped, mainly because families in higher income ranges decide to seek the care through their insurance providers once the Early Steps care isn’t free.

Reorganizing the Department of Education

A proposal to reorganize the Louisiana Department of Education advanced to the House floor for debate with an 11-2 vote Thursday of the House Education Committee.

Superintendent of Education John White is pushing the measure (House Bill 650), which would restructure offices and job titles in his department.

White didn’t attend the committee hearing, but one of his assistant superintendents, Erin Bendily, outlined the proposal to lawmakers, saying the reorganization was designed to help offer more support to local school districts.

Teacher union leaders objected to the measure.

Mary-Patricia Wray, with the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, said the restructuring would create fewer individual budget units, making it more difficult to account for specific spending in the agency. She said the bill shouldn’t be passed “unless and until the department can demonstrate responsible, honest and transparent fund management.”

Michael Walker-Jones, executive director of the Louisiana Association of Educators, said the reorganization needs more conversation with education officials and more research.

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