I urge you to reconsider your proposal regarding the consumer directed model of services. It has been such a blessing to my special needs daughter and to our family to be able to care for her without having to worry about who is providing her care or our livelihoods. My daughter has CP, respiratory disorders, is wheelchair bound, nonverbal, and cannot do anything for herself. Her immune system is also compromised. The best person to care for her is her parent. I shudder at the thought of leaving her in the care of an attendant (if one could be found). My daughter cannot communicate verbally, but as her parent, I am able to understand her wants and needs based on experience and history with my daughter. This is not something that is easily learned. Why would the Commonwealth consider taking away critical, personalized care for our most vulnerable citizens? Nobody can and nobody will take better care of my daughter than her dad and me. Especially not for $12-$16/hour. Caring for our special needs children is a labor of love. We are not doing it for the pay. The pay simply helps us to do it more effectively because it lifts the weight of finding outside work on top of caring for our special needs children. We do not get paid time off. We do not get sick leave. No vacations. Our lives revolve around our special needs children. Please don't increase an already stressful situation. It is hard enough for us to find attendants to do respite care, let alone a qualified attendant to take over the care that we are already effectively giving our children. If you want to change anything about the consumer directed model, then please address and change the way hours are approved. Make it easier for parents instead of harder. We shouldn't have to constantly jump through hoops to keep the hours we have. We shouldn't have to worry about what the results of the next evaluation/certification will change in terms of allowed hours. So many parents and defenseless children will be negatively impacted if the proposed changes go into effect. PLEASE DO NOT TAKE AWAY A PARENT'S ABILITY TO BE A PAID ATTENDANT FOR THEIR VULNERABLE, SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN!