Families Heart

From The Heart

By Geralyn Athenas, Civic Activist and Parent of Michelle

We are all aware of our different but similar circumstances with our children or loved family member. The one thing we all have in common is the daunting amount of paper that is involved.

We have gone from what is now the simple IEP in school working for the best possible education for our children to Medicaid Waivers, SSD or SSI (who knows the difference?). ISP’s need to have the right language and those who figure out transportation, how do they do it?

I love my daughter and The FREE Family loves her too. We are all aware of the 100 percent the staff give every day. I believe they have been “called” to their profession. But the Bureaucracy we call Government does not have a clue. Cuts in everything, changes in dollar formulas, alternative placement, five-year re-certifications—how is the average person to handle this information while coping with the needs of our family member? It upsets me to be faced with the possibility of failing my child because I didn’t have the proverbial “doctor’s note”. New Jersey recently lost millions because of an oversight.

Gerri is probably not the only parent who is frustrated with the bureaucratic nightmare that families face.

If you have experienced similar feelings, how do you handle them? Maybe there is some way we can help and support each other.