SPOKANE, Wash. – “My 12-year-old son, Colton, he was born with a hypoxic brain injury,” Stashia Brazington told NonStop Local. “When we left the hospital, did not have a lot of hope, did not have a very good outlook from what the doctors told us about his list of diagnosis.”
But hope eventually came, when she was able to get assistance through Joya Child and Family Development, known then as Guild School.
“They were the first people who were celebrating him,” Brazington said.
For three years, Brazington took her soon to physical and occupational therapy.
Years later, confirmation came from medical professionals, that the early intervention changed his life.
“It actually prevented him from needing a lot of interventional work on his hips and his legs,” Brazington said. “He is so much more comfortable.”
The secret to the success, Brazington explained, the partnership between Joya and the Early Support for Infant and Toddlers (ESIT) Program.
“Especially with my son, it was so vital,” Brazington said. “We didn’t have a lot of money, we didn’t have great health insurance coverage. And without the funding from ESIT, it would have been so much harder, if not impossible.”
In the 2026 legislative session, a proposed bill, could change how ESIT funding is allocated to programs like Joya, and after an amendment accepted Monday, could decrease funding to 2008 levels.
Under current Washington State law, funding for ESIT program is calculated “based on the annual average head count of children ages birth to three who are eligible for and receiving early intervention services, multiplied by the total statewide allocation generated by the distribution formula under RCW 28A.150.260 and the allocation under RCW 28A.150.415, per the statewide full-time equivalent enrollment in common schools, multiplied by 1.15.”
Representative Joshua Penner explained this relationship.
“Traditionally, the funding, for the various programs is tied to the funding rate of K-12, and K-23 special education specifically,” Penner said. “the belief there is that for these individuals, this is part of their education development, because they need that kind of instruction to work up to a place where they can move into a school system later on.”
HB2688 proposed decoupling the rate, meaning that instead of being attached to K-12 Special Education, the funding would stand alone.
The amendment, slashing that rate down to a 1.00 multiplier.
“First it decoupled the rate from the K-12 rate and then it reduced the rate, which is devastating for the programs that support birth to three,” Penner said.
Currently, more than five Spokane facilities utilize the ESIT funding, including Joya.
Joya’s director of strategic programs and initiatives Jessie Laughery says the current version of the bill could result in a $31 million statewide cut annually, translating to a $1 million loss for Joya each year.
“Time waiting to access services will be impacted,” Laughery said. ” You know, a therapist can only do so much in a day, and so we will be strapped.”
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 6 U.S. Children are born with a developmental disability.
Laughery said that in just the last year, the number of children served by Joya has skyrocketed.
“We’ve served just over 700 putting us on pace to serve 1500 kids this next year. That’s a 60% growth from last year,” Laughery said.
A $1 million cut could limit the families served.
“We’re not able to say, go find these services elsewhere because they don’t exist,” Laughery said.
“It’s a dramatic cut to services, very important programs right now that are already at a risk of shutting the doors, and this almost guarantees they shut the doors,” Penner said.
Penner also explaining that future hidden costs of passing HB2688 are a concern.
“It’s going to cost millions tomorrow because again, the students, the kids that do not get an opportunity to get this kind of early life support are going to cost our education system millions,” Penner said.
Penner explained that ESIT’s focus on early intervention helps reduce future needs.
“In fact 40% of the kids that utilize these interventions go on to not need special education funding in school,” Penner said.
Joya reports that 64% of kids leave the program at age 3 having met age-appropriate milestones and do not require further intervention.
“We certainly understand the tough position that the state legislature is in,” Laughery said. “But we also know that what costs us a dollar today might cost us $5 down the road in special education services.”
And while Brazington’s two children have aged out of the Joya (and ESIT) program, Brazington said she is still grateful for the impact of the facility and that early intervention, and she hopes the program will stay funded.
“It’s such a small window that sets them up for a lifetime,” Brazington said.
As for the bill, Penner says he is committed to working to make sure that all the funding remains in place.
“It is not a slam dunk bill,” Penner said. “And that’s my job from the floor is to work with a democrat majority to find representatives that we can either agree on a path forward or figure out how to make this bill not pass in the next eight days.”
NonStop Local also reached out to the bill sponsors for comment.
Neither Representative Ormsby or Gregerson were available for comment Tuesday, but NonStop Local is working to schedule conversations for later in the week, to ask about the budget incentives behind the bill.
