Op-ed: Georgia bureaucracy overlooks kids with special needs
November 3rd, 2008Writing in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Atlanta resident Susan Haines says she sympathizes with Tysheema Brown, a Georgia woman who dropped off her 12-year-old son with behavioral issues at a hospital in Nebraska under the “safe haven law.” The controversial law allows parents to drop off children as old as 17.
Haines says parents of children with special needs often feel “thwarted by local and state bureaucratic roadblocks and indifference” that leave them desperate with nowhere to turn.
An excerpt:
We understand Brown’s heart-rending dilemma and support what she saw as her only option. Her love of her child is so strong that she was willing to make this choice. I am outraged that the state of Georgia has countermanded her legal right as a parent. When a parent or surrogate has advocated to the limit of his or her ability, Georgia offers nothing but a cold shoulder.
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November 9th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
I am a Georgia citizen, voter, and mom of two children (my son has severe behavioral difficulties due to fragile x syndrome and autism.)
Georgia’s Governor Sonny Purdue has neglected and abandoned children and adults with special needs on a continuous regular basis. First he cut the Katie Beckett Medicaid Waiver dramatically.
The first cuts were those children who have childhood mental illnessess such as- schizophrenia, Bi-Polar disorder, High functioning Autism, Downs Syndrome etc. When these cuts occurred parents were sent a $3,000 dollar “medicine card.” When the medication voucher card was used up,(in most cases within one or two months.) It was difficult for the parents who had children cut from the medicaid waiver to insure their children because of the pre-existing conditions that these children have.
The second cut Purdue passed was a limit on therapies and related services. Therapists were required to have a prior pre-approval for every single therapy visit for the children that they were serving.
Respite services here in Georgia are a fairytale. If an adequate amount of respite hours were provided to families who have children with disabilities, it would enable these families to have the “privilege” or “luxury” for families to possibly have both parents to work outside of the home! WOW!
In closing I will say with absolute certainty that the state of Georgia does not just turn a cold shoulder to children who have disabling conditions, but sends those children with disabilities and their families to live alone in an ice-cold tundra!
I do not agree with what this woman did, but I do understand the state of Georgia’s politics surrounding these issues.