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Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Action: Meeting with care providers


Submitted by: Representative James White

House District 12

“I will continue aggressively with meeting with care providers in my district as we continue to navigate the challenging budget cycle.”


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am both a nurse working in the State home for Special Needs individuals and a mother of an adopted special needs child who was my patient. These children need so much more time and money to do simple things that others do every day, like boating, or horseback riding, and many cannot do those things at all. The State workers are the only family they have. I can see SO many other ways to balance the budget other than taking from the elderly and special needs. In my town the "poor" people who are lined up and paying for their food with food stamps leave the store and get in a car that is new with classic wheels and a huge stereo, because families work it where they never marry, but have many children together and give separate addresses to get welfare. I see this often in homecare too. As long as we give more to the "poor" we encourage them to not work. Why can't a person be made to do 40 hrs community service to receive welfare when they say they cannot find work? The special needs REALLY cannot work and pay their way. Please, please quit taking from our special population to give to the lazy. The State is having us adhere to very strict rules, which require many nurses to complete these regulations, but there is a freeze on hiring?????? How can we stay open when the same State who is making us adhere to these taxing regulations won't let us hire the help to make it happen. Something has to give.

Lufkin, TX

Anonymous said...

Thank you for supporting and advocating on behalf of all Texans who have a disability. You are respected by all, no matter where they choose to receive services, State Supported Living Centers and community supports.

Nancy said...

I am a service recipient of a state funded program called Client Managed Personal Attendant Services (CMPAS) since 1995. For 33 years I have used the services of an attendant to help me with my basic needs, getting out of bed into my wheelchair , dressing, showering, etc. Because of the freedom of independent living for persons with disabilities and having and attendant be my arms, legs and muscles, I have been able to be employed for 26 years, full-time and giving back to my community by 1) providing an employment opportunity at $7.25 an hour (state wage) for an attendant job--(it is really sad when you have to compete with fast food chain wages for personal care wages) , 2) having an employment opportunity available for people who have the compassion but not necessarily the skills needed or desired to work in the competitive world. 3) Paying a co-pay, investing my hard earned wages back into the very program that support my attendant needs; 4) spending my income in my community, paying sales tax, gas tax, franchise tax, property tax, etc to support the economy and 5) I am able to volunteer hundreds of hours a year to benefit the community and to fill my passion for my community. All this because I have the freedom to live in my own home and have attendants that help me to achieve all this and more.

My program services thru CMPAS are slated to be cut by 50 percent. So the cost impact will be nursing home costs, unemployment of me and my attendant, the loss of my self-directed care, activities, dignity, loss of tax revenues, volunteer hours, and basically a liability for the state. The cuts are not recognized on the surface but go deeper and damage the economy in more ways then one might think. I am but one of hundreds across the state at risk. No cuts means better balance, no cuts mean freedom and revenue generation, and no cuts to hurt the very citizens that work so hard to keep Texas working.

Anonymous said...

People who are not caregivers for our special children or anyone with disabilites could never know the cost and extreme difficulties that familes endure. I pray that the families will continue to get the support that they truly need