Malique is a 3-K student who is supposed to receive speech therapy three days a week and occupational therapy twice a week while he’s at school. But this year, he did not receive a single session of either service.

“It’s showing what his, with — as he's talking. And also, as he's not writing, or trying to do the things that he's supposed to be doing, his milestones,” his mother, Monique Franklin, said.

Malique is one of about 25,000 children in pre-K and 3-K who have an Individualized Education Program, or IEP. Many of those children can attend a general education class — with a little help in the form of mandated services like speech, occupational or physical therapy, or visits by a special education teacher.

But as of late May:

• 7,156 preschoolers with disabilities had not received a single session of at least one of their mandated services
• Of those, 3,729 of them received none of their mandated services 

“These are the supports that are really meant to enable the children to work and and learn alongside their peers in the classroom. And so we're talking about, honestly, a systemic violation of the legal rights of these young children,” Betty Baez-Melo, director of the Early Childhood Project at Advocates for Children, said.

Baez Melo says those numbers only capture students who have not had even a single session of a service.

“It doesn't account for children who maybe waited five or six months in order for one of those services to begin,” she said.

Malique has been receiving two of his services — physical therapy and visits from a special education teacher. But when it comes to speech and occupational therapy, the Department of Education tells his mom they don’t have any therapists to help him.

“They say they still looking for somebody,” she said.

A spokesman for the DOE cited a shortage of service providers in a statement to NY1.

“To combat the nation-wide shortage of qualified providers in the special education area, we are working through the Panel for Educational Policy to contract more service providers to increase coverage for preschoolers. We are also offering related service sites for preschoolers who were not served during the school year,” Michael Zhao said.

Franklin was willing to take her child to a site outside of his school to get the help he needs — but it didn’t work out. 

“The reimbursement for transportation was like six or seven weeks, and I'm not able to afford to wait for six or seven weeks,” she said.

Her son was getting services in early intervention before preschool — and says the city should be better prepared to serve children like her son when they age into 3-K.

“I think the city failed us. I do. They do — because they had enough time,” she said.

Advocates for Children and other organizations are calling on the city to add $70 million to this year’s city budget — due any day now — to hire more service providers and evaluators. They say it’s key if the city wants to make sure parents continue to choose public schools.

“They really start to lose faith that the city is going to be able to meet their child's educational needs long term when it's so hard for them to get the services that the Department of Education has already agreed their child has a right to receive,” Baez-Melo said.