Jill Armentrout of Birch Run is Parent Liaison for the Saginaw County Great Start Collaborative. In this position contracted through the Saginaw Intermediate School District, she coordinates the Parent Coalition, bringing the parent voice to the early childhood system and outreach to families. She is the mother of two daughters.
New autism intervention services are available to families in the Great Lakes Bay Region, thanks to the statewide law requiring insurance coverage for the disorders.
Autism spectrum disorders are a group of developmental disabilities caused by a problem in the brain. Scientists do not yet know what causes this problem. ASD can impact a person’s functioning at different levels, from mild to severe. There is usually nothing about how a person with an ASD looks that sets them apart from others, but they may communicate, interact, behave and learn in ways that are different from other people.
Saginaw County Community Mental Health Authority provides services as a Medicaid or MiChild benefit for children 18 months to age 5, said Heather Beson, autism supervisor. The Medicaid benefit began on April 1.
CMH must diagnose children with autism for families to be eligible for services at the agency. A school or primary care doctor can’t provide the diagnosis. CMH has a new autism team that includes a psychologist, behavior specialists, support coordinators, behavioral aide and consultation with a board certified behavioral analyst. The agency does partner with schools and early intervention services in Early On.
Applied Behavior Analysis is intervention for autism that can help children develop language, increase peer interactions and social skills, reduce disruptive behaviors and improve communication. ABA happens at home or in a clinic with a behavioral aide. Most children receive intervention for two to three years, up to their sixth birthday.
The benefit through Medicaid includes two levels of Applied Behavioral Analysis: Level 1 is 10-20 hours per week and Level 2 is lower intensity in hours with a lower level of diagnosis. Both are with a ratio of one child and one worker, with therapy in the home.
Nichole Birchmeier is a support coordinator and works with schools, Birth to 5 and Early On. Screening starts when parents call for intake and talk to a family liaison at CMH. They use a screening tool over the phone and look for “red flags,” Beson said. The screening interview includes a 45 minute session in the office and two hours at home. A psychologist validates the diagnosis. Then the state considers the child’s eligibility for services. Staff then provide cognitive testing and behavioral evaluations and then interventional ABA can begin.
CMH plans to hire 10 behavioral specialist assistants. They have a contract with Detroit Children’s Hospital for training. They also provide occupational, physical, speech and other therapies. The agency now has 10 children receiving treatment, which is more than other counties so far, Beson said. Some were existing consumers with CMH and some are new intakes through Early On.
Any child in Saginaw County who is on MIChild or Medicaid qualifies for this benefit up to their 6th birthday. After that, they can qualify for Special Education
The child is still eligible for other CMH services, including support coordination, respite and other therapies.
Covenant HealthCare was set to open its autism center in Bay City in late summer, hospital administrator Terry Lerash said. Hospital staff will work with children who have private insurance. This benefit also was legislated by the state this year.
Lerash said he was approached by a mom in 2012 who was taking her son, age 4, to Beaumont Hospital in Detroit every day for therapy. It was a two-hour trip. Payment wasn’t a problem for her, even though it is a very costly out-of-pocket expense, but travel time was the biggest issue for her, he said.
“After four weeks of the therapy, her son walked out and held her hand for the first time. That is why we wanted to look at starting a center here. We were looking at this before the legislation. We are working with the Cleveland Clinic and have been consulting with them for a year. We recruited a certified therapist who was educated at Western Michigan University, a leader in the nation in this training.”