I've forwarded a recent letter from Director of HTA of New York, he explains the importance of what must be done to ensure the safety of 543,000+ births that are premature. He is an authority who represents the people, and not from a private organization.
Although, my nephew (I stepped in to help raise him so he would grow up wih two parents) Anthony does have a Early Prevention advocate visiting monthly, my concern is that all those who qualify know what is available and if the proper awareness is made all will realize the importance of proper care early on can have lifelong effects.
To re-iterate, we do not wish to re-create the wheel, and as always we do not compete for the donation dollar, we only wish to contribute.
-----Original Message-----
From: Concepcion Jusino
To: John Rinaldi
Sent: Tue, Nov 17, 2009 9:09 am
Hi John
I was able to read your letters to The March of Dimes in full last
night. Great Letter! You should try and look up The Early Intervention
Program. It is a federally sponsored program, for infants and toddlers
ages birth to three years old. The program provides free assessments of
infants and toddlers with suspected delays or at risk for delays. Last
we met, I encouraged you to contact the program (every state has one),
so that Anthony can be assessed to determine if he is developing at age
level. The evaluators come to the home and assess the 5 areas of
development (cognitive, communication with oral motor and feeding
assessments, social, self-help skills and physical development). If the
infant has a delay then therapy is provided to the child in the home at
no cost to the parents. Many parents/caretakers are unaware of this
federally funded program. Every NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) is
supposed to refer all of their premature babies to the Early
Intervention Program upon discharge. In addition, any child birth to
three years old that has been referred to the Child Abuse Program in
their municipality, by Public Health Law is required to be screened by
The Early Intervention Program. I am surprised and dismayed that this
did not automatically happen when Anthony was discharged from the NICU.
In addition, any infant that weighs 900 grams or less upon birth is
automatically eligible to receive services from The Early Intervention
Program in their state. The New York City Department of Health which
manages NYC's Early Intervention Program, does not allow any official
from a private organization that involves itself with providing services
to the NYC EI Program (EI means Early Intervention Program) from
marketing their services. So I cannot represent HTA of New York because
we are a private...for-profit organization that provides the therapists
for The NYC EI Program. Therefore if I do join you in any capacity, I
can only talk about The Early Intervention Program (not my agency). I
believe it would be more fruitful in making parents/caregivers aware of
The Early Intervention Program in their State, then advertising the
agency that I work for. Please google The Early Intervention Program in
your State as it shares the same concerns for the well being of infants
and toddlers as you and your organization does.
I am looking forward to seeing you when you are in town.
Regards,
Dr. Concepcion Jusino
-----Original Message-----
From: John Rinaldi [mail to:johnmrinaldi@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, November 16, 2009 3:15 PM
To: Concepcion Jusino
Thank you for your concern and I applaud your efforts in ensuring premature children receive the care that they need. We have reached out to many of the talk shows as this is a great vehicle to reach the audiences vital for the awareness needed for change.
If you are still interested in being an authority I would grately appreciate it. Just to reiterate, we are an organization that does not want to compete but to rather support like minded organizations. We are grateful that you still support our cause.
We invite you once again to be an authority of Premature Births. In addition, we have Harvard School of Mental Health on board and I believe your participation would compliment significantly. Once again, we applaud your work on keeping our children safe. You are truly healers, and in a time like this, we need all the healers we can get.
We are also connecting to The White House, and although we were applauded by past administrations, the current administration supports individuals making change within our communities and we are doing not only for our immediate community but for the nation in total. President Obama says all it takes is one person, but it takes more than that. We are making our imprint for the sake of humanity.
Kathyrinaldihope.blogspot.com.
Best to you.
John M. Rinaldi
President/ Founder
To re-iterate, we do not wish to re-create the wheel, and as always we do not compete for the donation dollar, we only wish to contribute.
-----Original Message-----
From: Concepcion Jusino
To: John Rinaldi
Sent: Tue, Nov 17, 2009 9:09 am
Hi John
I was able to read your letters to The March of Dimes in full last
night. Great Letter! You should try and look up The Early Intervention
Program. It is a federally sponsored program, for infants and toddlers
ages birth to three years old. The program provides free assessments of
infants and toddlers with suspected delays or at risk for delays. Last
we met, I encouraged you to contact the program (every state has one),
so that Anthony can be assessed to determine if he is developing at age
level. The evaluators come to the home and assess the 5 areas of
development (cognitive, communication with oral motor and feeding
assessments, social, self-help skills and physical development). If the
infant has a delay then therapy is provided to the child in the home at
no cost to the parents. Many parents/caretakers are unaware of this
federally funded program. Every NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) is
supposed to refer all of their premature babies to the Early
Intervention Program upon discharge. In addition, any child birth to
three years old that has been referred to the Child Abuse Program in
their municipality, by Public Health Law is required to be screened by
The Early Intervention Program. I am surprised and dismayed that this
did not automatically happen when Anthony was discharged from the NICU.
In addition, any infant that weighs 900 grams or less upon birth is
automatically eligible to receive services from The Early Intervention
Program in their state. The New York City Department of Health which
manages NYC's Early Intervention Program, does not allow any official
from a private organization that involves itself with providing services
to the NYC EI Program (EI means Early Intervention Program) from
marketing their services. So I cannot represent HTA of New York because
we are a private...for-profit organization that provides the therapists
for The NYC EI Program. Therefore if I do join you in any capacity, I
can only talk about The Early Intervention Program (not my agency). I
believe it would be more fruitful in making parents/caregivers aware of
The Early Intervention Program in their State, then advertising the
agency that I work for. Please google The Early Intervention Program in
your State as it shares the same concerns for the well being of infants
and toddlers as you and your organization does.
I am looking forward to seeing you when you are in town.
Regards,
Dr. Concepcion Jusino
-----Original Message-----
From: John Rinaldi [mail to:johnmrinaldi@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, November 16, 2009 3:15 PM
To: Concepcion Jusino
Thank you for your concern and I applaud your efforts in ensuring premature children receive the care that they need. We have reached out to many of the talk shows as this is a great vehicle to reach the audiences vital for the awareness needed for change.
If you are still interested in being an authority I would grately appreciate it. Just to reiterate, we are an organization that does not want to compete but to rather support like minded organizations. We are grateful that you still support our cause.
We invite you once again to be an authority of Premature Births. In addition, we have Harvard School of Mental Health on board and I believe your participation would compliment significantly. Once again, we applaud your work on keeping our children safe. You are truly healers, and in a time like this, we need all the healers we can get.
We are also connecting to The White House, and although we were applauded by past administrations, the current administration supports individuals making change within our communities and we are doing not only for our immediate community but for the nation in total. President Obama says all it takes is one person, but it takes more than that. We are making our imprint for the sake of humanity.
Kathyrinaldihope.blogspot.com.
Best to you.
John M. Rinaldi
President/ Founder
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