The Inn of Inclusion

• April 11th, 2008

“A little inaccuracy sometimes saves a ton of explanation.”
- H. H. Munro (Saki) (1870-1916)

This week in the Virginian Pilot an article by Elizabeth Simpson appeared on the subject of waiting lists for Medicaid Waivers in the State of Virginia for people with disabilities. I know Elizabeth and respect her greatly. Her writing style and ability to convey complex issues in a human light is uncanny and she consistently picks up the gauntlet and writes stories most of our community rarely considers and often times don’t care about.

This one was no exception. She clearly explained the system by which people with disabilities can access services in my State and she clarified why the granting of 600 new “slots” puts little more than a small dent in the ever growing waiting list that now represents 6000 people with disabilities. In the article she clarified that if you have a label of autism or have a brain injury that no new slots are granted at all and she exposed the disparity of the system in prioritizing people’s needs based on where they live. If you are in an institution run by the State more funds are available to you as is more support, if you are living at home with your family then tough.

The only disagreement I personally had with the article was this sentence; “A Medicaid waiver would allow him to move into a group home and receive services that could provide more socialization and job skills. Ann Christie says her son is eager to move out on his own, and she’s worried he’ll lose some of his skills if he spends too much time at home.”

A Medicaid wavier would also allow her son to choose Hope House Foundation instead of living in a group home. We closed all of our group homes 17 years ago in favor of true individualized services that place the person with the disability in the “driving seat” so to speak in directing their own lives. What better way not to lose your skills than to be afforded the opportunity to live your life as an individual based in your own home versus in a group home based on labels .

So here in Virginia we have 6000 people with disabilities, not to mention their families and friends all wanting 400 passes to freedom. So the test becomes who is most needy and who has the most justifiable emergency situation. So typical of the State, crisis management. No need to be proactive, let’s just do as little as possible and only for those who are in crisis. How about the folks who as adults want to live outside their family home, or those who have ambition and want to contribute? No room at the Inn of Inclusion for them. This same approach was most striking in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings. The lawmakers agreed that now it’s time to get serious about this broken and under funded mental health system. The sweeping speeches and outrage still produced so little to prop up this abysmal system.

The only way to get service in this State is to be an emergency. So pull out the sirens, get your flashing lights and move swiftly down the road of bureaucracy, because if it’s not a crisis then we need to keep doing what we have always done in the Commonwealth, as little as possible.