More people than just teachers are mad. I want to clarify the impact this dangerous bill would have on people with disabilities.
The program my daughter, Kimber, belongs to is Family Care, funded by Wisconsin Medicaid. It was formed to replace the institutions and nursing homes that were "housing" our state’s seniors and the disabled. It saved the state millions of dollars by not paying these places up to $500 a day to take care of our loved ones, and instead took the funds and let the families find services to allow them to keep them at home.
We use ours to provide a day program for my daughter and provide "respite care" to help us pay for special care to look after her if we have to be gone somewhere. This is something we could never do on our own…and the older I get, the more difficult it is to lift her and take care of her. Families with disabled loved ones have costs that exceed normal medical costs to care for their needs, (and in many cases, like ours, our insurance won’t cover.)Family Care helps us to afford to care for them. It assures me if my husband and I pass away or no longer can care for her, this program is there to assist her brother and sister with her care as well.
The program works beautifully. That is because the people who are directly affected by it went to the legislature and helped determine eligibility, services provided, and the people it serves. Now they want to take that all away from us and have the Governor and a Joint Finance Committee control it, and NOT allow our input. This is a power grab to control the money…and make deep cuts to "balance the budget." They don’t really care about us. If they did, they would allow us to be there to make the decisions about what a program like this should do for the disabled and the seniors of our state.
This is the scary part of what is going on in Madison. We are up in arms, because our government is removing our "voice" from making decisions about our lives. A true measure of a good government is how they provide for those who cannot take care of themselves. Family Care is a highly successful program because the voice of the people it serves are heard. Can you honestly tell me the Governor and a Joint Finance Committee are better equipped to take care of Kimber, than I am??
I am asking you to ask yourselves…Is this the government you want? One that won’t listen to you, and makes laws to make sure your voice isn’t heard either? Because that is just what he did to my child. If Scott Walker gets away with making laws that control – no, silence – our voice, and prevent us from having any say as to what the effect of these laws are on our lives, imagine what he will do to you next.
Sherry Schultz resides in Burlington, Wis.
