PEKIN Ill. – A rally was held in Pekin Wednesday morning, to bring awareness to the Early Intervention movement in Central Illinois.
The Early Childhood Forum of Central Illinois partnered with Raising Illinois to host the rally, at the Lighthouse Church in Pekin.
Early intervention provides critical services to children under the age of 3 who have or are at risk for significant development delays and disabilities — but according to Speech Language Pathologist, Sarah Ziemba, families are having to wait for services they are legally entitled to…
“Right now, in 2024, conditions are worsening. This is due to a lack of investment over the last 25 years and it has resulted in stagnant wages throughout the program,” Sarah Ziemba said.
Ziemba adds — the groups hope to raise more than 60-million dollars ahead of 2026, in order to “get babies off the waiting list”.
“We see the heartbreak on families faces when they can’t access the services that their kids need to succeed. We sit in meetings, telling families their children have delays, knowing that there are no other available therapy options to help them — and we can’t look away from this situation,” Ziemba said.
Ziemba says over 9-percent of children requesting services are having to wait to receive them — so far this year, in Illinois.
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