State lawmakers are considering a bill that would move responsibility for young children with disabilities to local schools.
It would move care of children three to five years old with disabilities from Child Development Services to local school districts over a four year period. Supporters say the department and schools will continue to work collaboratively with CDS, which would continue to manage services for children younger than three.
At a public hearing today Courtney Belolan with the Department of Education, said schools are the best place to offer these services.
"Local public schools are uniquely positioned to oversee educational programming and will coordinate the available resources within each community to support these children and families," Belolan said.
Some speakers expressed concerns that the changes don't go far enough, and that schools will have the same staffing issues that child development services struggles with now.
Atlee Reilly, the legal director for Disability Rights Maine, testified neither in support or against the bill.
"I'd like to say at that top we agree as well that this is the best plan that we've seen," he said. "However, and I don't want this to sound unnecessarily combative, but I don't think that that should be the standard."
