Florida Children Being Stuck In Nursing Homes

It has recently come to the attention of the Justice Department that Florida has

been institutionalizing hundreds of young children with disabilities by putting them in nursing home facilities that are designed for elderly patients. And the children are not just staying for a quick layover, some have been in a nursing home for years. These actions are in direct violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Justice Department believes that the reason behind having so many children in nursing homes is due to Florida failing to set aside enough money to cover in-home nursing care, therapy and other services that would enable parents to care for their own children in their own homes. Federal investigations show that the state has completely cut 24-hour in-home nursing and other home-based services for children who use ventilators, feeding tubes, and other complicated technology. Without any help from the state, parents are trying to find the funds to take care of their children at home, but many are falling short and are forced to let their children go to a nursing home.

Children by the hundreds are being put in these nursing homes all over Florida and they are growing up without their families. At least 50 children have been stuck in the same home for 5 years. Tom Perez, the Assistant Attorney General to Pamela Bondi, the Florida Attorney General, state that the children live segregated lives and are not given many chances to be around children or adults without disabilities. They are also not given opportunities to experience a majority of educational, social and recreational activities that are critical to a childs development.

These children are surrounded by elderly nursing home patients and a few other children with disabilities. They spend the majority of their time in their beds or watching TV and federal authorities have said that their educational opportunities are limited to about 45 minutes per day. These kids are classified as medically complex or medically fragile, and can be suffering from traumatic brain injuries or cerebral palsy. Some are on ventilators, many have tracheotomies, and most need medical apparatus or equipment to help them survive.

A 5 year old quadriplegic child, injured in a car accident, has been residing in a state facility for three years. Her mother has been trying in vain to bring her home, told that there is a waiting list for community and home-based services that is between 5 and 10 years. Another child is a 6 year old girl living in an institution who has to receive nutrition through a feeding tube. While under her mothers care, the feeding tube fell out several times and it was recommended that the girl should be released back to her mother, but to give the child brief daily visits from a nurse to maintain the tube. The state refused to pay for any amount of nursing care, and so the child remains in the facility.

Its estimated that to be cared for in a nursing home, each child costs about $500 per day, which is more than elderly patients cost. Nurses are working overtime, scurrying between patients, and desperately trying to take meet the needs of a wide range of patients. Federal investigators are threatening a lawsuit. Florida maintains that they were just following federal laws.

by: Shirley K Williams

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