South Carolina Child Advocacy Lawyer & Attorney : R. Michael Ethridge : Carlock Copeland Semler & Stair : Serving Columbia, Charleston, Greenville

Through legislation passed last year, the South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs (DDSN) appropriated $3 million to develop a new Medicaid Pilot Project to treat children ages 3 through 10 years old who have been diagnosed by age 8 with a Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD). [See September 29th blog article].  Children participating in the pilot project will be selected based upon an application process.  The deadline for applying for services under this Project is Friday, January 12th.  On January 17th the applications will be randomly selected one at a time and given a number in the order they are drawn.

For more information, or to apply for services under this waiver go immediately to the DDSN website.  Your service coordinator or early interventionist may also be able to provide you with some information regarding the waiver.  DDSN has set up a helpline at 1-888-576-4658 (but several parents have reported that they have not been able to get through).

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On December 31, 2006 South Carolina will loose $1.4 million in federal Medicaid funding used to teach autistic children.  The loss of Medicaid funding will mean that school districts will have to find other ways of paying for expensive Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy. 

ABA therapy is a research based therapy that has proved to be very effective in treating children with autism.  The earlier the intervention the better the results.  Studies have shown that half of the children who receive ABA therapy to treat an Autism Spectrum Disorder become socially and academically indistinguishable form their peers, and all children receiving ABA therapy make some progress.

While critical to an autistic child's education, this therapy doesn't come cheap.  Up to now school districts have relied on Medicaid funding to help pay for these services.  With the evaporation of that funding there are some huge questions as to how schools will find the money to provide these children with what they need. 

And if the school districts don't find the money, what then?  Will the parents of autistic children find that they are being asked to sign new IEPs at the end of the school year---IEPs that don't include ABA therapy?

For more read the letter from Cheryl Bauerle.

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Check out this link or a list of various events around the state for families with children suffering from ASD. 

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Last year the South Carolina legislature funded a Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) pilot program with $3 million (which will be matched by federal Medicaid funds).  While a far cry from what is needed, this program will hopefully provide a number of South Carolina children suffering from an Autism Spectrum Disorder with the opportunity to receive meaningful therapy.

The PDD pilot program will be run by the South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs (DDSN).  DDSN has worked with a number of state agencies and other interested parties over the last few months to develop the program.  DDSN's first hurdle is to obtain the federal approval at to how the money will be spent.  Several weeks ago DDSN held a public meeting to detail the proposed program.

Here are a few highlights from that meeting:

• $3 million has been appropriated to DDSN (to be matched by federal money)
• the PDD program is a designated Medicaid pilot project for children diagnosed with a PDD by age 8
• the program targets the youngest ages feasible for treatment effectiveness
• the treatment cannot exceed 3 years
• the program will fund no more than $50,000 per year for treatment
• findings will be reported to the General Assembly by June 30, 2007

By December DDSN will announce the application process for families who might be interested.  The DDSN will assess individuals to determine if they meet the Medicaid medical criteria, and the Department of Health and Human Services will determine financial eligibility.

This legislation (the text of which is presented below) is the result of the efforts of a group of parents known as the Ryan's Law Gang.  The legislation they had hoped to pass would have required that all insurers in the state provide coverage for all autism spectrum disorders.  Those efforts unfortunately failed, but the PDD pilot program will at least make it possible for some families to access services that were previously inaccessible. 

With over 2700 cases of autism in South Carolina and with the number of children diagnosed growing exponentially, we are going to have to find a way to make crucial services available to these children.  When all is said and done, the DDSN believes the pilot program might serve 100 children.  The pilot program is a start but only a start. 

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