I want to thank our Virginia legislators for voting to remove the restriction prohibiting parents from being paid as providers.

Virginia families struggle to secure the quality care our children deserve. Please do not add new restrictions.

Over the past three years, Virginia families have benefited from the option to become their child's care attendant. It helped our family so much, we advocated to make it a permanent option.

Here are a few of the reasons:

There is less risk of abuse to the child. Our children deserve to be cared for by a person who is invested in their health and well-being.

Continuity of care is important. Personal care attendants receive a low wage, and it is hard to keep employees.

Parents are already doing the work of paid caregivers without compensation.

Parents of disabled children are finally able to join the workforce. Even with attendant care for their child, many parents could not work full-time jobs because they must be on-call to handle any issues that arise. Now they are working and can help grow our economy.

Virginia has already voted to remove the restriction prohibiting parents from being paid as providers. Please do not add new restrictions.