We recently switched from agency to consumer directed due to the low quality of care, intermittent care, frequent callouts, high turnover, unqualified care. My RN wife jumped through hoops to become the paid attendant. She was getting paid $38 an hour to now making the attendant pay but she was missing work due to aforementioned issues. Because I am in the military it is near impossible to bring family with us on moves, so the hoops for her to take a drastic pay cut in order to have consistent care for our child is ridiculous. It is mind blowing that if a cousin was here they could easily be hired to be the attendant, but a parent must be a last resort with OWD stating we’ve exhausted all other options  

There should be fewer requirements for a parent/PCG to be the paid attendant when it comes to medically complex or developmentally disabled cases. Most families affected by this scenario require one parent to stay at home and care for the child, or the parents must alter work hours so that one is always home. If Medicaid has determined my child needs an attendant, there should be no reason my wife cannot be that attendant. Or myself.

If most marriages end in divorce, and parents of children with complex medical problems have a higher rate, and many divorces are financially related, many of us don’t stand a chance if DMAS continues to make this harder on us.