Explanation
This ordinance authorizes the City Clerk to enter into a grant agreement with Columbus Speech and Hearing Center, a non-profit corporation in support of the expanded Early Identification and Intervention program.
Columbus Speech and Hearing Center’s (CSH) Early Identification and Intervention program serves children up to age six, one-third of whom are from low-income Black or multiracial families. This program identifies communication delays or disorders, provides a comprehensive evaluation using standardized test measures, clinical observation, and information via case history and parent reports, and develops a treatment plan with specific short- and long-term goals for each child.
In 2021, with funding received from United Way and Ohio Children’s Foundation, Columbus Speech and Hearing sought to evaluate neighborhood needs through speech-language/hearing screenings into Qualified Census Tract (QCT) neighborhoods. The goal was to identify children in need of follow-up evaluations, referrals and speech-language therapy services. In 12 of these central Ohio neighborhoods, 52% of children ages 3 to 5 who were screened in 2021 failed their speech-language screenings, and 40% failed their hearing tests. In comparison, CSH conducted speech-language and hearing screenings in these same neighborhoods in 2018 and discovered a 27% failure rate for speech-language evaluations and a 21% failure rate for hearing evaluations.
In response to this urgent need for services, CSH has been actively recruiting to hire additional Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) who can help to expand the Early Intervention program services into these QCT neighborhoods. As a result of a year-long intensive recruitment process which has yielded few qualified prospects, CSH is now planning to expand the 25+ years of training/mentoring “CFs” (Clinical Fellows) and graduate students to transition them into full-time SLP positions at CSH. A CF is in transition between being a graduate...
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