Michigan Early Intervention Cost Study
Michigan’s EI program, called Early On®, provides services through intermediate school districts to children from birth to age 3 with disabilities and/or developmental delays. As part of the Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5) renewal grant, the Michigan Department of Education Office of Great Start partnered with AIR to study the costs of high-quality early intervention (EI) services.
This four-part cost study included:
- Conducting a policy and literature review to identify best practices in EI;
- Creating shared definition of high-quality EI services;
- Determining resources and costs associated with providing high-quality EI across the state; and
- Technical assistance sessions on funding sources and preliminary results.
Creating a Shared Definition
To create a shared definition of high-quality EI and determine resources associated with providing high-quality EI, the AIR team engaged with more than 50 expert practitioners and family members involved in EI through a series of regional expert panel meetings.
Study Findings
The study found that the statewide annual average per-child cost of providing a full year of high-quality early intervention is $17,949. This cost represents providing high-quality Early On services to a child for 1 full year, including outreach, referral, eligibility determination, individualized family service plan creation, service coordination and provision, transition, and state supports.
Recommendations include building a stronger service provider recruitment pipeline, increasing outreach to families, and providing additional statewide services in areas of common need such as language interpretation and data systems.
