Children's Advancement Fund, Inc. aims to assist children in CT who do not have insurance to reach a brighter future. In CT, between 2005 and 2007, there were 43,000 children (State of America's Children 2008), 18 years of age and younger who did not have insurance. In 2004 there were approximately 60,000 students (U.S. Department of Education, 2006) in CT labeled with a disability by public school systems. The American Academy of Pediatrics, June 2004, reported that many children with impairments or some degree of disability may have "limited participation in age-appropriate activities at home, in school and in the community and should benefit from physical, occupational and/ or speech-language therapy services" (Michaud, et al. June 2004). Without insurance benefits children do not have access to the specialized medically necessary therapy services to help them succeed and become contributing members of our society. Some of the children who will be assisted by this organization include (but not limited to) children with learning disabilities, cerebral palsy, autism, apraxia and traumatic brain injury. We at CAF want to help every child reach a brighter future no matter what the disability. Read more.
In addition we aim to assist those children caught in the middle between their local school system and their insurance company. There are several state and federal laws mandating that school systems provide services to these children; however, the only services that have to be provided by the school system are those services that interfere with the education process. Most but not all insurance companies only support services that are "medically necessary". This definition varies greatly between companies; however, the most general definition of "medically necessary" is: a skill that was present and then was lost due to illness or an accident, thereby requiring rehabilitative services to regain the lost skill. Therefore, per this definition, any child born with a disability does not need rehabilitative service, that is, the service is not medically necessary because they were born with the disability and did not acquire it. It was reported that "managed health care has made it more difficult for children with special needs to receive therapy service outside of the school, with insurance companies denying services for children who attend school, maintaining that therapy is mandated at the school" (Michaud, et al. June 2004).
In summary, public school systems do not have to provide services if they are not educationally necessary and many insurance companies say various treatments for disabilities are not medically necessary. The end result is that children are caught in the middle and many children do not receive the services they require.
Resource Articles
Michaud, L. and the Committee on Children with Disabilities, Prescribing Therapy Services for Children with Motor Disabilities.
American Academy of Pediatrics, vo. 113, no. 6, June 2004, 1836-1838.
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State of America's Children 2008: The Children's Defense Fund.
Searchable database analyzing various timely children's topics.
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U.S. Department of Education: 28th Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2006, Vol. 2.
Outlines the number of children per state with disabilities as well as the types of disabilities.
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Mission Statement
Children's Advancement Fund, Inc., a nonprofit organization, supports children with special needs and their families in Connecticut by facilitating services such as Occupational, Physical and Speech/Language Therapy as well as assisting the integration of children and families into the community through various programs.
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