admin @ Thu, 2006-03-09 09:00
Unable to afford the care their autistic son, Eric, needed, they gave up custody to the state so that Medicaid -- a federal and state program that provides health care for low-income residents -- would cover his treatment.
The issue has now landed before state lawmakers. The cost of picking up care for Eric and others with extensive needs is projected to be an additional $3 million a year.
"What I'm hearing is that people are being moved and they don't believe they really have any choice," he said. "Most of these kids are in need of stability in their lives. They certainly don't need to be moved around now, or threatened to move."
The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services notified state officials in December about strict enforcement of the number of days it would pay for services at Lakemary and other centers known as Level 5 facilities.
Federal funding is cut off after a child has been in the center for 140 days, although extensions are frequently granted. For Eric, that extension expires Tuesday.
United Methodist Youthville, one of the nonprofit agencies that contracts with the state to handle foster care, says the funding cutoff has not yet resulted in early discharges.
"To date, we have not discharged any children from there (Lakemary) who were not ready to go or did not have a discharge plan," said Sandra Gasca, Youthville's chief program officer for the child welfare contract.
Earl Kilgore, director of children's services at Lakemary, said the facility needs at least 40 children to pay for a clinical psychologist, a psychiatric nurse and psychiatric social workers necessary for intensive treatment.
Perry and her husband turned to the state -- and pay it $600 a month in child support to help cover his expenses -- so that Eric would be safe and get help.
"The state is saying it's not their problem," she said. "These are children who cannot function in society, a lot of times, due to the fact that there's not enough community support."
This is cache, read story here