Zsazsa wrote:
From my own experience, I do not see anything wrong with institutional care as long as it provides a comfortable living environment, plenty of activities for its residents and respect for each individual entrusted in their care.
Too many people have been de-institutionalized and "dumped" into poorly managed community homes or left to fend for themselves living in squalor on the streets. There are a high number of these people who end up in the prison system and after serving a sentence of a few years, are then released into the community with no follow-up treatment and care. In a short time, such individuals become repeat offenders and returned to prison where they receive the treatment and care they need.
Until members of Congress and our state and local governments recognize the failed policies and inadequacies of de-institutionalization, our most
vulnerable citizens will never get the proper community treatment, housing and care they deserve.
The whole purpose of the Community Choice Act is to let people choose what kind of supports they receive and in what sort of environment. Basically, what it does is give people the right to take the money that would've been spent on them in an institution and use it to hire attendant care to ensure they're well supported in the community. It doesn't forcibly de-institutionalize anybody - all it does is ensure that people aren't forced to go into an institution if they want to receive supports. Right now, there are tens of thousands of adults with disabilities who are on waiting lists to receive the community services that the Community Choice Act would provide.
03 May 2009, 5:45 am
