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FSRI Staff testify for Rhode Island H-7628

FSRI staff plea for RI Legislature to pass H-7628

Right now there are 600 at-risk children under the age of 3 waiting for critical development services that Family Service of Rhode Island provides. Passing H-7628 will help.

Early Intervention and First Connections programs are a core component of the state’s commitment to ensuring that families with infants and toddlers with developmental delays and disabilities receive high-quality services as early as possible, so children can develop to their fullest potential.

But nonprofits that provide these mandated maternal and infant services face high staff turnover rates due to low wages– caused by a stagnant, 22-year-old state reimbursement rate— which is putting our most vulnerable children at risk of losing these services completely.

That’s why FSRI’s early childhood staff, including our CEO Margaret Holland McDuff, recently gave testimony in support of H-7628 to fund a stable system of care for Rhode Island children and families at the RI Statehouse.

FSRI Staff testify for Rhode Island H-7180    FSRI Staff testify for Rhode Island H-7628

FSRI Staff testify for Rhode Island H-7628

Right now, there are only nine remaining EI service-providing agencies in Rhode Island, including FSRI. All have dealt with a workforce and financial crisis in recent years, which have now created a perfect storm of circumstances that is ultimately hurting at-risk children and families that need services most.

As a state, we have three choices:

Please call or email your legislator TODAY and make sure they know you support H-7628. You can find out who your representative is here.

Let’s put people first– because the future of young Rhode Islanders hangs in the balance.

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