Parents of severely disabled children beg for expansion of paid parent care program

Parents of severely disabled children say they are desperate for state leaders to expand a new program that pays parents to provide certain care to their children.

A KATU investigation found other states have done just that.

Some Oregon parents have disabled children who qualify for hundreds of hours, per month, of state-funded, in-home care – but they told KATU it’s hard to find professionals to provide that care due to workforce shortages.

The federal government started allowing parents to get paid during the pandemic, in part to address that shortage.

Jordyn Skaats’ 7-year-old son, Thorin, was born at 25 weeks – and has a variety of health complications that require full-time, around-the-clock care from Jordyn.

Jordyn said it’s been years since she could find a provider to cover most, if any, of the hundreds of hours of care Thorin qualifies for based on his state assessment. She can’t work due to his healthcare needs.

The permanent program – called the Children’s Extraordinary Needs program – allows parents to be paid up to 20 hours per week and is only offered to children with the highest needs as determined by a state assessment.

The state said 1,557 children met those criteria. However, the state’s budget only pays 155 families at one time, while the rest – roughly 90% – are on a waitlist.

Thorin is number 1,249 on the waitlist.

READ MORE: https://katu.com/news/katu-investigates/parents-of-severely-disabled-children-say-oregon-should-expand-paid-parent-care-program

_______________
Stay up to date with our social media:

KATU on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katunews
KATU on Twitter: https://twitter.com/KATUNews
Subscribe to KATU on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmDTerxNU_gvCWLkIPkqghA/?sub_confirmation=1

Daily News Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFtHM_AbvnEUkd_YRTlZpGKkbczT5w062

For more information, visit https://katu.com/

Have a news tip? Send it directly to us:

Email us: newstips@katu.com
Call the Newsroom: 503.231.4222

KATU is a OR based station and a ABC Television affiliate owned and operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group. Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. is one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies in the country today.

#KATU #Katu2abc #Portland #Oregon #localnews #oregonnews

Author: KATU News
Go to Source

News post in at: August 14, 2024, 3:02 am.

Visit Our Sponsor’s:
News.Science – News Science