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Senate Works To Restore Home Care For Disabled

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By CATHERINE DOLINSKI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 4, 2007

Updated: 10/04/2007 01:11 am

TALLAHASSEE - Responding to outcry from families, lawmakers are trying to fix legislation they passed this spring that limited the state's care of people with severe developmental disabilities.

Senators on the Health and Human Services Appropriations Committee amended a bill on Wednesday afternoon to provide a larger exemption from new limits on 'personal care assistance' for people with severe forms of debilitating disabilities, such as cerebral palsy or spina bifida. Personal care assistants provide a range of daily services, from basic hygiene to transportation, and help families care for disabled relatives at home rather than place them in institutions.

The safeguard that passed the Senate committee will help 1,000 families stay together, said Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, who crafted the amendment.

'Not only have we done the right thing for the most vulnerable in our society ... it's going to wind up, I believe, saving the state money because people will get to stay at home,' he said.

The legislative fix, sponsored by Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, responds to a bill passed in the spring to overhaul the Home and Community-Based Care waiver program for the disabled. Lawmakers passed a series of reforms in an attempt to plug an expected $100 million deficit at the Agency for Persons with Disabilities and rein in its spending.

At the time, lawmakers thought they had more or less shielded those with the severest disabilities from service cuts. But legal staff advised the agency that the bill had capped personal care assistance at 180 hours per month for all participants, regardless of the severity of their needs.

According to the agency, the bill exempted only those who could demonstrate that reducing their personal assistance had substantially worsened their circumstances.

'That was not my intent, and I don't think it was the intent of members when they supported it,' said Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, who spearheaded last spring's effort to reform the Agency for Persons with Disabilities.

The amendment the Senate panel approved Wednesday expands the exemption to 'persons who have intensive medical or adaptive needs and if such hours are essential for avoiding institutionalization,' as well as those with intense behavioral problems who risk harm to themselves or others. It eliminates the requirement that residents experience harm as a result of the service cap.

Galvano said he is working on a similar plan for the House.

The Agency for Persons with Disabilities supports the change, spokeswoman Melanie Etters said. 'This will assist the agency in continuing to protect the health and safety of those with intensive needs ... which is something the agency had always hoped to do.'

Reporter Catherine Dolinski can be reached at (850) 222-8382 or cdolinski@tampatrib.com.

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