Florida Children in Nursing Homes? Disgrace!

[Cheshire Cat]

Certainly there is a laser focus on the rights and safety of children in Florida as a result of recent killings.  It is time for Floridian's to take a "serious and real" look into how our citizenry and government allows for the slow destruction of our kids via cutting children's programs, laws that let sex offenders back into society, domestic violence and those acts perpetrated upon them by our own government leadership.  I find the following story reprehensible and in my view it serves as another major "wake up" to the people of this state.  Folks, we have got to get a handle on these issues right now.  Our children are the victims of apathy and bureaucracy!  Something is wrong with this picture.

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=540065 (click link to read full story)

Florida
Nearly a year after issuing a scathing investigative report, the U.S. Justice Department on Monday filed a lawsuit alleging Florida has violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by unnecessarily placing children with disabilities in nursing homes.

The 23-page complaint contends the state should have taken greater steps to provide services to children in their family homes and communities instead of placing them in nursing facilities. It said the Justice Department has tried to negotiate with the state to resolve the issues, but determined that "compliance cannot be achieved through voluntary means."

"The state discriminates against children and young adults with disabilities by administering and funding its programs and services for these individuals in a manner that has resulted in their prolonged and unnecessary institutionalization in nursing facilities or placed them at risk of such institutionalization in violation" of the Americans with Disabilities Act, said the lawsuit, filed in federal court in South Florida

[Cheshire Cat]

And this article.

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2013/07/feds-sue-florida-over-warehousing-of-children-in-nursing-homes.html

[If_I_Loved_you]

State defends handling of disabled children, blasts feds for attempting 'takeover'
Mary Ellen Klas, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau

Liz Dudek, secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration, staunchly defended the state's handling of disabled children in nursing homes on Monday and called the lawsuit filed against the state by the U.S. Department of Justice a "disruptive" lawsuit that is intended to take over "control and operation of Florida's Medicaid and disability programs."

The federal lawsuit alleges that the state is unnecessarily segregating 200 children in nursing homes who would better be served in community care and home-based settings. It is asking a federal judge to halt the practice.

Here is Dudek's statement and background:

"Florida has made many improvements in its already strong program of caring for medically complex children and helping their families cope with their everyday challenges.  Today's Obama Administration action shows that Washington is not interested in helping families improve but instead is determined to file disruptive lawsuits with the goal of taking over control and operation of Florida's Medicaid and disability programs."

Additional Background Information

In Florida, medically complex Medicaid recipient children are entitled to receive medically necessary private duty nursing, personal care services, and other services in their home up to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Over the past year, the Agency for Health Care Administration has made improvements to their service of care, including enhanced care coordination for these families.  Over 1000 children are actively receiving enhanced care services and these services are aiding in transitioning children out of pediatric nursing facilities as well as keeping children who are being served in the community, in the community.

These enhanced care coordination efforts have created the following successes since the beginning of this year:

    31 children have been discharged from pediatric nursing facilities to their family, adoptive placements, group homes, or medical foster care;
    6 children being discharged after hospitalizations were discharged to their family homes instead of pediatric nursing facilities due to the care coordinator's assistance in coordinating private duty nursing; and
    3 children were diverted from pediatric nursing facility placements and reside in medical foster care homes.
    1 fair hearing request in the month of May challenging the level of private duty nursing for medically complex children in the home.  With enhanced care coordination, requests for fair hearings have declined over the past year and remain low.

[Last modified: Tuesday, July 23, 2013 8:51am] http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/state-defends-handling-of-disabled-children-blasts-feds-for-attempting/2132611