Writing in the Newport News [Virginia] Daily Press, Greta Harrison says Virginia must fund Medicaid waivers to assure that people with disabilities can live and work in their communities. Presently, the waiting list in Virginia has more than 4,000 people on it, with more than 2,000 of them in urgent need. Without full funding for the waivers, she says, thousands of people with disabilities will have no choice but to go into institutions. An excerpt:

Virginia is the only state still investing capital in rebuilding and expanding institutions, or “training centers.” The average cost for a person in an institution is $150,000 a year. The average cost for a waiver is $56,000. Virginia spends millions of dollars in “training centers” and invests zero dollars in community housing for those with intellectual disabilities. If institutions were a good and viable option for the majority of people with disabilities, 49 other states would not have made the decisions they have to move away from institutions.

Now imagine being the parent of a child with a disability. You are 80 years old and in failing health. Your spouse has died. You have no other family to help you with your disabled child, whom you have loved and nurtured for decades. You could have a stroke or numerous other health setbacks. What would happen to your child who is now an adult? Without a waiver, or a personal fortune of millions, your child will most likely end up in an institution. Imagine the burden of fear this is on the parent. Imagine the cruel change of life events this is for the adult child, the one most impacted.

Switch gears and imagine being the parent of a teen with a disability who has gone through special education and has many hopes and desires for the future. This teen wants to work and live in a group home with friends. Now imagine the shock you experience when you discover your teen needs a waiver to participate in a work program — and you have no chance in the foreseeable future of getting one when you are 4,001 on the list. Imagine this teen becoming a young adult and sitting at home doing nothing but watching TV. Imagine all the years of dedicated special-ed instruction and the investment that has been made in this child truly being wasted. Too many people in Virginia are in this situation today.

Greta Harrison is the chair of the board of directors for The Arc of the Virginia Peninsula.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 8th, 2008 at 2:13 pm and is filed under NOT2BEMISSED, commentary, families, group homes, housing, intellectual disabilities, waiting list. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post