Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Children with special needs: a ‘gravy train’ for Florida nursing homes?
http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/america-tonight-blog/2014/3/19/florida-childrenagravytrainfornursinghomes.htmlAt Kidz Korner, children in wheelchairs sit parked in a hallway. It’s a nursing home, but looks more like a storage facility for kids. And it’s been Andrew’s home for more than a year.
Andrew was an outgoing high school senior. His goal was to become a firefighter, but a freak incident changed his life. Just after his 18th birthday, he had a heart attack that starved his brain of oxygen. Since he left the hospital three years ago, he’s lived in nursing homes.
Andrew’s dad, Marcello Martinez, said he would love to care for his son, now 20, at home, but he was never told he could have in-home care. According to a U.S. Justice Department investigation, the state of Florida has been pushing parents like Martinez to send children with disabilities to nursing homes like this one.
“When I show up there, there's no interaction,” Martinez said about the facility, which houses geriatric and pediatric patients in separate wings. “There's nobody there to really care for him. It's more of a system of, ‘OK, 12 o'clock, feed him, give him his meds. That's it, done deal.’”
Andrew was an outgoing high school senior. His goal was to become a firefighter, but a freak incident changed his life. Just after his 18th birthday, he had a heart attack that starved his brain of oxygen. Since he left the hospital three years ago, he’s lived in nursing homes.
Andrew’s dad, Marcello Martinez, said he would love to care for his son, now 20, at home, but he was never told he could have in-home care. According to a U.S. Justice Department investigation, the state of Florida has been pushing parents like Martinez to send children with disabilities to nursing homes like this one.
“When I show up there, there's no interaction,” Martinez said about the facility, which houses geriatric and pediatric patients in separate wings. “There's nobody there to really care for him. It's more of a system of, ‘OK, 12 o'clock, feed him, give him his meds. That's it, done deal.’”
