It has recently come to the attention of the Justice Department that
Florida has been institutionalizing hundreds of young children with
disabilities by putting them in nursing home facilities that are
designed for elderly patients. And the children are not just staying for
a quick layover, some have been in a nursing home for years. These
actions are in direct violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The Justice Department believes that the reason behind having so many
children in nursing homes is due to Florida failing to set aside enough
money to cover in-home nursing care, therapy and other services that
would enable parents to care for their own children in their own homes.
Federal investigations show that the state has completely cut 24-hour
in-home nursing and other home-based services for children who use
ventilators, feeding tubes, and other complicated technology. Without
any help from the state, parents are trying to find the funds to take
care of their children at home, but many are falling short and are
forced to let their children go to a nursing home.
Children by the hundreds are being put in these nursing homes all
over Florida and they are growing up without their families. At least 50
children have been stuck in the same home for 5 years. Tom Perez, the
Assistant Attorney General to Pamela Bondi, the Florida Attorney
General, state that the children €live segregated lives€ and are not
given many chances to be around children or adults without disabilities.
They are also not given opportunities to experience a majority of
educational, social and recreational activities that are €critical to a
child's development.€
These children are surrounded by elderly nursing home patients and a
few other children with disabilities. They spend the majority of their
time in their beds or watching TV and federal authorities have said that
their educational opportunities are limited to about 45 minutes per
day. These kids are classified as €medically complex€ or €medically
fragile,€ and can be suffering from traumatic brain injuries or cerebral
palsy. Some are on ventilators, many have tracheotomies, and most need
medical apparatus or equipment to help them survive.
A 5 year old quadriplegic child, injured in a car accident, has been
residing in a state facility for three years. Her mother has been trying
in vain to bring her home, told that there is a waiting list for
community and home-based services that is between 5 and 10 years.
Another child is a 6 year old girl living in an institution who has to
receive nutrition through a feeding tube. While under her mother's care,
the feeding tube fell out several times and it was recommended that the
girl should be released back to her mother, but to give the child brief
daily visits from a nurse to maintain the tube. The state refused to
pay for any amount of nursing care, and so the child remains in the
facility.
It's estimated that to be cared for in a nursing home, each child
costs about $500 per day, which is more than elderly patients cost.
Nurses are working overtime, scurrying between patients, and desperately
trying to take meet the needs of a wide range of patients. Federal
investigators are threatening a lawsuit. Florida maintains that they
were just following federal laws.
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