BYRON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A pop-up now appears upon a visit to the MiNavigator website.
"With the passing of the most recent state budget, the funding for this program has been eliminated, because of this, we must pause new service requests," the webpage reads in part.
A free service that connects thousands of families to autism-related resources, the MiNavigator program is run by the Autism Alliance of Michigan, a nonprofit organization based in Southfield with an office in Byron Township.
While state funding has supported the program for a decade, the annual allocation was eliminated last week upon Governor Gretchen Whitmer's signing of the state budget.
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"There was not a single doubt in our mind that we would be included," said Dr. Nikki Hamp, Chief Health Officer for the Autism Alliance of Michigan.
"I have to believe that this was an error, that this was a mistake," she said. "I think it was an oversight, and I really am, at this point in time, just begging our lawmakers to make it right."
The organization planned on receiving around $2 million from the state, an amount of money that would have covered half of its annual budget and "almost 100%" of the cost of the MiNavigator program.
Now, around 75% of the program's staff will lose their jobs.
"There's no one in the organization who's not impacted by this cut," said Hamp, noting the layoffs are "primarily" within the Navigator program and its Outreach and Education team.
"This is devastating," she said.
In 2009, the Autism Alliance of Michigan was founded to address insurance and cost-related barriers facing families of children with autism.
In 2012, when the State of Michigan passed insurance reforms that required health insurance companies provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders, the MiNavigator program was "born out of a need" to help families work through the new environment.
"We have experts in insurance and benefits, we have experts in employment and housing, we have experts in education," Hamp said.
"When you call the Autism Alliance of Michigan, you go right to your person, who knows your story, who knows your family, and can help answer that next question," she said.
Prior to the loss of state funding, the Autism Allliance of Michigan employed around 16 navigators who helped serve 3,000 to 4,000 families across the state.
As stated on its website, the organization is pausing new service requests as it works to restructure the program.
We don't ever want to turn a family away," Hamp said. "The purpose of pausing is so that we can care for the families that we already are serving."
While the state budget has been signed, Hamp hopes funding can find its way into a supplemental budget bill that would adjust or add to the original budget.
"Ultimately, I just want to raise up the importance of the work that we do," she said. "I continue to want to drive home that children and families with autism deserve to be a priority as much as anything else in that budget."
The offices of Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D) and Speaker of the House Matt Hall (R) did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
