Post by Janet on Sept 11, 2010 17:33:00 GMT -5
AGENCY FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES: Contact, Denise Oetinger, Regional Program Supervisor, 1313 N. Tampa Street, Suite 515, Tampa, FL 33602-3328. Phone: 813-233-4312. Fax: 813-233-4302. E-mail: denise_oetinger@apd.state.fl.us
What I learned about this program at the SPARK conference today was this:
They have presently 18,000 people on the waiting list in Florida. On average they transfer 20 people from the waiting list to the actual Waiver program monthly. If a child is in crisis (homeless, loss of caretaker or in danger of hurting himself or others) they are transferred to the program immediately (well, immediate for them means within two to three months).
The program is not funded properly. We were encouraged to contact our State Representatives and urge them to fully fund this program immediately....
They did encourage us to qualify for eligibility and get put onto the waiting list because things can and do change periodically... Let's see, 18,000 on the waiting list at 20 per month... At that rate, it would take 900 months to reach the 18,000th person on the list. My grandson would be 79 years and one month of age before he gets moved up to the waiver....
What I learned about this program at the SPARK conference today was this:
They have presently 18,000 people on the waiting list in Florida. On average they transfer 20 people from the waiting list to the actual Waiver program monthly. If a child is in crisis (homeless, loss of caretaker or in danger of hurting himself or others) they are transferred to the program immediately (well, immediate for them means within two to three months).
The program is not funded properly. We were encouraged to contact our State Representatives and urge them to fully fund this program immediately....
They did encourage us to qualify for eligibility and get put onto the waiting list because things can and do change periodically... Let's see, 18,000 on the waiting list at 20 per month... At that rate, it would take 900 months to reach the 18,000th person on the list. My grandson would be 79 years and one month of age before he gets moved up to the waiver....