As a parent caregiver, I provide an extraordinary amount of daily care for my daughter, and the burden on my family is already significant. Caring for a child with substantial needs is not a normal work shift—it is a responsibility that continues day in and day out, while also trying to raise a family, work, and maintain some sense of stability.

The changes being made and proposed add even more stress and administrative burden to families who are already stretched thin. I should not have to prove through additional tracking and bureaucracy that I am caring for my daughter in the home where we both live. These the EVV requirements have a real impact on our time, finances, and quality of life.

Families like ours need the guidance and help of our Service Facilitators, as well as, the support and flexibility of these services, rather than additional obstacles! 

I strongly urge DMAS and Virginia policymakers to consider the real-world impact these changes have on parents providing essential care to their own children.

And the obstacles and that this government is proposing to place in the way of parent caregivers- who are just trying to make it in this extremely tumultuous financial and political time will only serve to further harm one of our most vulnerable communities as a whole.