From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Budget cuts in Pennsylvania mean long waiting lists consisting of more than 21,000 people with intellectual disabilities requesting support services, including over half classified as having “emergency” or “critical” needs. Aging caregivers report that this situation poses a significant challenge.

More aging parents are losing the ability to care for adult children, mental retardation program officials said. Some mentally retarded people aren’t attending day programs because they are staying home to care for aging parents.

According to The Arc of the U.S., a national organization that advocates for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, Pennsylvania represents a national trend.

“There are problems all around the country,” said Peter V. Berns, executive director of The Arc of the U.S.

The Arc of the U.S. has started a “Stop The Wait” campaign to draw attention to the growing numbers on waiting lists. More than 285,000 people on waiting lists in 21 states are included in the campaign’s database. About 716,000 people might be living with a caregiver who is 60 or older, Berns said.

(Photo from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

This entry was posted on Friday, August 15th, 2008 at 5:56 am and is filed under advocacy, intellectual/developmental disabilities. 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.