SPOKANE, Wash. — Right now, parents with children who have developmental disabilities aren’t compensated for the care until the child turns 18, but two new bills in the Washington legislature could change that.
“We had a plan, but we had to pretty much uproot and change our entire lives to really accommodate her needs,” said parent Kristina Smith.
Smith’s daughter Katheryn has several medical conditions, including cerebral palsy. She qualifies for 16 hours of care a day but having those hours met has been a challenge throughout her life.
“She qualifies for personal care hours which we weren’t able to find any caregivers to utilize,” Smith said.
The family has to attend multiple appointments to address her health needs. Balancing this with a career has been a challenge.
“It makes it really hard to hold down a job because we’re kind of bad employees,” Smith said.
The two new bills hope to ensure parents who care for a child with extraordinary needs can be compensated for their efforts.
“It is a bigger issue than most people realize,” said parent Alexis Bordner.
Bordner is another advocate of these new bills. Her son Noah can have several seizures a day and needs supervision 24/7. For Bordner, this move in legislature feels like what the disability community needs to thrive.
“I know that disability is hard to talk about,” Bordner said. “We like to passively sweep it under the rug and act like we can’t do anything to help the burden.”
According to the bill report, 41% of allotted service hours currently go unused.
For families like Smith’s, these feel like hours that have been promised to these children.
“They give families an option. Most families have to have at least one parent stay home. Single parent families, it’s devastating for them,” said Smith.
The bills would cost the state around $7 million in this biennium and close to $23.5 million in the following.
You can go here for more information on SB 5211 and here for more information on HB 1200.
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