My name is, Shelley Reichard, I am a caregiver for two individuals one which is my sister. It has taken my family years to adjust to being her caregiver. Just when things are working DMAS again wants to make changes that only makes our jobs harder. We are happy with our Services Facilitator and they are doing a great job advocating on our behalf. To make major changes would interfere with stability due to another change. 

After my mother passed away she asked if I would make sure my sister was taken care of. At the time I had my own company as a Service Facilitator. After trying to honor my mother's request and keep my business going I decided that she (sister) needed my full attention. I decided to close my business so she could receive the care she needed to become a part of a community. Her behaviors were such that we could rarely take her in public. She was angry, sad, grieving, and did not understand why she was living outside her family environment. When she came to me I spent time with her doctors trying to manage medications that would not cause her to become a "zombie" but medications that could help her focus enough to get her the help needed. When I closed my business and took this on full time I became  committed to ensuring that she was part of our entire family and introduced her to as normal a life as possible. Consumer Direction as been our avenue in this goal due to the time needed to focus on her life goals. Our Service Facilitator has helped us reach goals. Changing the way this works would cause undue stress on her and myself. 

Also, having to change to the EVV process was one of the special perks we had not to have to use the app and gave us the time to enter on the computer as a time saver. 

We as caregivers have to make decisions daily that will enhance the quality of life for our individuals and I do wonder why a group of people make changes without consulting us when we are the ones on the front line. 

Please consider my words in not making changes that would cause undo stress on the thousands of caregivers who work tirelessly to make sure our individuals are receiving the care they need and deserve. Change to our individuals and us when things are already working becomes our highest stress factor. This is why caregivers are rated among the highest groups to have burnout and the hardest positions to replace. 

Thanks are your time in reading this request.