Darcy Armbruster holds a sign calling attention to the state’s wait list for Early Intervention therapy services for youths from birth to age 3 at an Oct. 29 EI information session in Aurora. The Yorkville resident, who provides services to youths in DuPage and Kendall counties, said EI specialists need a funding hike from the state. (Photo by Kevin Beese/Chronicle Media)

Second in a series looking at Early Intervention proponents’ push for more state funding

Darcy Armbruster sits down every month to figure out if it makes sense for her to continue as a physical therapist for young children.

“I’m barely affording to be able to pay for child care for my son,” Armbruster said. “I have a doctorate and I make less than what a first-year teacher makes in the schools with a bachelor’s degree.”

The Yorkville resident who provides Early Intervention services to youths in DuPage and Kendall counties as a sole proprietor has been a therapist for 12 years.

The lack of state pay increases for therapy services for youths from birth to age 3 leads to difficult financial choices for Armbruster.

“I pay my mortgage off of seeing these kids. I pay my daycare off of seeing these kids, and it’s not uncommon that I have to reach into my savings to be able to make those ends meet,” she said. “It’s this constant question of ‘How long can I continue to do this? How long can I continue to not pay into a retirement fund as I’m getting older?’ It’s a scary thought, but at the end of the day, it’s those families who drive me.”

Armbruster and other Early Intervention advocates are asking Gov. J.B. Pritzker to include $60 million more for EI in the fiscal year 2026 budget.

Kaet Romberg holds a sign in front of her dog, Tobias, pointing out the need for Early Intervention funding during a rally Nov. 1 in Downtown Chicago. (Photo by Kevin Beese/Chronicle Media)

Early Intervention services were allocated an additional $6 million in the current state budget, but the funding boost was a far cry from the $40 million bump EI proponents were seeking. Proponents say the funding increase is needed to keep therapists for young children in the field and to make a dent in the state’s wait list for therapy services.

“Right now, we have approximately 3,000 babies on the wait list who aren’t receiving the therapies that they’re legally entitled to by law within 30 days,” Armbruster said. “We’ve been doing a campaign to increase awareness, letting parents know that you can actually file a complaint against the state.

“Those complaints are coming back with wording from the state of ‘Yes, we have violated your right. You’ve been missing your therapies.’”

Lacking support

The Yorkville therapist said it is tough to stay committed when the financial support is not there from the state.

“It’s hard to stay in a program sometimes where you feel undervalued by the system,” Armbruster said. “We know our families love us. We know our families value us and that keeps a lot of us going,

but it hasn’t kept enough of us going; and that’s why there’s 3,000 kids from the north to the south to the east to the west (waiting for services).

“In every single county, you can find a kid illegally waiting on their therapy services.”

Armbruster said the past dozen years have been full of ups and downs.

“It’s been the best and the most challenging 12 years. We’ve watched the program go from being on the chopping block under (Gov.) Bruce Rauner, where they were threatening to basically cut out 50 percent of the children we serve,” she said. “We fought against that. Now, what we’re fight against is the fact that wages haven’t kept up in over 20 years. There have been less than a handful of raises given in that time.”

She said individuals in any field expect to receive raises commensurate with their experience and expertise.

“Not just anyone can come off the street as a therapist with their degree and work specifically in the birth-to-3 population,” Armbruster said. “We’re specialists within our fields and need to be treated as such.”

Waiting for funds

Kaet Romberg, a developmental therapist, made the decision to open her own business in March 2020.

She said delayed payments from the state for services provided makes things difficult.

“It’s really hard to be able to live or build a business or anything like that when we’re not being paid on time,” the Chicago resident said. “We have bills to pay, and we have taxes to pay.

“It’s interesting that the state won’t pay us on time, but then you get in trouble if you can’t pay your taxes on time. It’s a really interesting dynamic that they don’t seem like they can figure out. There’s a lot of funding that goes to all these other things, but they can’t find funding for our future, which is the most disappointing thing.”

With her dog, Tobias, by her side, Romberg said, “We have bills to pay. We have stuff to pay for.”

The owner of Home Grown Pediatric Therapy, Romberg said some Early Intervention service providers are leaving for greener pastures.

“Too many EI providers are not able to support themselves or their families, so all these providers are leaving EI to have more security,” she said.

Romberg said she has thought about going back to working for a therapy company.

“I don’t want to go back to working for someone else. I really love the autonomy of working for myself,” she said. “I always wanted to have my own business, but working for the state makes things really, really difficult.”

She said handling rough financial patches as a sole proprietor in Early Intervention services takes some work.

“It’s kind of tricky to navigate. You really have to plan,” Romberg said. “You have to have a savings and a secret savings. It’s kind of tricky.”

kbeese@chronicleillinois.com