Daily News | Betty Baez Melo, the director of early childhood education at Advocates for Children, said there is increasing concern that in the last quarter of the year, the federal share may not be retroactive to April, when the increase should have first gone into effect. An additional 4% increase was also slated to go into effect next year for underserved areas, while the state is already behind on its plans.

“Because of low reimbursement rates, there’s been an increase in families waiting for services to begin on time, and in many cases it’s because there’s a shortage of providers and services for telehealth would not be appropriate,” Baez Melo said.