Does any state have good services for special needs adults?

[AJKMOM]

We live in Pennsylvania, and they cut the special-needs budget every year. My son is now 23, autistic, with no real chance to move into a group home. DH and I are almost 60, and he has lupus. I am getting to the point of moving anywhere that DS would get better services and a chance to live in a group home or alternate situation, if I only knew where. Or is it hopeless?

 

[kylmac]

I would love to hear what others are doing as well. Our ds is 10 but we are already planning for his future as we are in our mid 40's. Hope we hear some wonderful information!
Elizabeth

 

[bookwormde]

There is a lot of work being done on this area in a lot of states, but at the moment nothing. In our state we are looking at having a complete array of supported setting all the way from traditional to lightly monitored "in law" type apartments. we have also talked about disability "friendly" communities with localized employment opportunities. Still at the early discussion stages, but 10 years from now maybe, in addition to the advantages of LRE for living structures as a moral goal, it is one heck of a lot less expensive per supported individual, so the finite dollars can cover more individuals.

 

[disneymarie]

PA here.
My sister bought my nephew a home, she is the landlord I believe from a tax sale. My nephew is almost 30 now cerbal palse, 24 hr care. This is paid for. If not a group home funds, seems odd they will pay for live in and aids for 24 hrs, but he is doing well with the arrangement as long as funds are there.

Is it the medical needs being met, not the housing? Not sure I know.
Blessings to your family.

 

[Forevryoung]

In NY it's the same scenario- long long wait lists. Best scenario in many cases is to donate a house outright to an organization (yep, big $$).

However, I wish more parents (caregivers) knew that if the individual is in a residential program before 21, they are "guaranteed" a placement after they graduate.

I've known many parents who sought residential placement at 17-18 years old to guarantee that adult placement. While not optimal, teenage placements are easier to obtain here.

 

[eternaldisneyfan]

California is good, especially if your under 21. In Stanislaus County, the Valley Mountain Regional Center offers a number of services for people (of any age) who have a developmental disability. There is also IHSS in home support services. This program pays caregivers to take care of people in their homes, including parents. There's in home nursing. The healthcare is very good, especially my hospital UCSF. Those are the programs I know of. We moved from Oklahoma (poor services) to California for better healthcare & disability support.

 

[cinderwannabe]

In NY it's the same scenario- long long wait lists. Best scenario in many cases is to donate a house outright to an organization (yep, big $$).

However, I wish more parents (caregivers) knew that if the individual is in a residential program before 21, they are "guaranteed" a placement after they graduate.

I've known many parents who sought residential placement at 17-18 years old to guarantee that adult placement. While not optimal, teenage placements are easier to obtain here.

There is no guarantee in NY that an adult with have placement after they graduate. Many agencies have made it their policy that they won't "kick" somebody out without placement with another agency. This is not always the rule though. There is a huge bottleneck going on in NY right now and it is creating bad situations in residential schools for school aged children. NY is pretty progressive though from what I have experienced as far as services and work programs for disabled individuals.

 

[blondietink]

Here in NY there is a wait list of something like 12,000 individuals waiting for residential placement. There is currently a "no build" policy in effect and the only way someone can get into a residential placement is if someone moves out or dies. This is for not for profit agencies as the state will no longer fund any new residential "opportunities". There is also a "no-admit" policy in effect for all state run institutions and they are closing them all down. The state is trying to bring back those students who have been placed in out of state placements right now and that is a priority.

Also currently in NY the state agency involved in care for the developmentally disabled is embarking on a new Medicaid waiver system; making all services medicaid managed care. The hope is to make services more portable and accessible, but as I live in a rural area, I don't see that happening. My son left school last June, and I am still waiting for assistive technology services and OT. Right now I am the one learning how to program his electronic communication device, while the speech therapist he finally got hooked up with 5 months ago and bills our private insurance $110.00 for a half hour session refuses to deal with it. The speech therapist will, however, give me a list of items he wants me to program on the device.