Interesting little details regarding special Medicaid benefits for disabled recipients I recently discovered... Thought I'd share.
Although my daughter is chronologically 14, she functions socially emotionally at the level of a toddler - except, being 5'1," she is tall enough and strong enough (even at 61 pounds) to get into things I would never have imagined, which includes pretty much everything.
A few examples of her antics:
- shredding a hundred dollars worth of books in a single setting once she's broken into her brother's room
- clogging the toilet with rolls of toilet paper, clothing, hand towels, baby wipes, hand lotion, latex gloves, and anything else within reach
- chewing through packaging of grocery items such as bread loaves, chips, cookies, and anything else that doesn't come in a can
- eating a half bag of puppy treats
- breaking out of the house and wandering off down the street
- grabbing a waiter's toucas in a restaurant
- grabbing food off of stranger's plates in route to a table when dining out
- slapping innocent passersby in a store while shopping
- shredding mail, magazines and any paper money that might have been left within reach
- ripping shelves, pictures, wallhangings and other decor down from the walls of her room
- breaking into the master bath and filling both sinks with water and every nearby object to include: toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss picks, perfume, lotion, hair gel, baby oil, make up, jewelry, applicators, tampons, face cream, mouthwash, etc (and yes, anything with a lid has been opened first... I call this move, "the madd scientist")
We had taken down the baby gates once our youngest was about 3 and despite the inability to sit down for more than 76 seconds at a time (or pee with the door closed for that matter), we were exceedingly reluctant to resort to imprisoning ourselves once more in our own home... until the morning I stepped from the pantry around the corner to catch my daughter stealing a slice of frying turkey bacon right out of the pan where it was cooking (she is quick!). --That very day, we accepted our defeat and went out and purchased $150.00 worth of child barriers, again. (I like to joke that we live in a gated community.)
Mind you, Isabel is a child who never crawled (she just stood up one day when she was five and took her first steps) and barely lifts her feet when she walks, but it took her no time at all to learn that she was tall enough to lift her long skinny leg and step right over the gate... so we had to raise it about 5 inches off the floor and bolt it into the walls and stair railings - though that didn't detour her from trying. And still doesn't... I catch her sometimes fingering the catch on the gates and can almost see those little gears turning trying to figure it out; it will not be long.
Meanwhile, we have knob covers on all the other doors in the house (you know the ones) and while, she's yet to master turning the knob with them on, she has discovered that breaking them off the knobs is just as effective for gaining entry into someone else's bedroom (or bathroom).
What to do?
Well, I decided to find out about the whole Home Modification deal to see what we would need to do to have a couple of Dutch (half) doors installed and custom door locks because like most folks in this economy, desperately needed home improvements are just not within our means...
Here's what I discovered:
Sure, DD recipients and their families do qualify for "Home Modifications" - an allotment of up to $15,000.00 per every 3 years (until the new statewide Waiver takes effect in our catchment area and then it's every 5 years).
There is no agency per se for helping determine possible solutions and / or cost-effective strategies for best keeping your child safe. Apparently, you come up with your own ideas and then go off and find 3 different contractors to provide 3 quotes / estimates for the prospective job(s) to submit for approval along with a justification. Of course, like all government contractors, the lowest bid wins.
Here's the kicker... The lowest-bidding, winning contractor (in today's economy) must be willing to do the work on good faith with the promise of getting paid for their materials and labor later by Medicaid. Hahahahaa, yeah right. --If anyone has a number for such a person, please let me know!
Of course, one could always opt to pay the contractor secretly upfront (which is illegal per Medicaid policy) and then hope you can trust them to reimburse you when they eventually receive their payment from your child's Medicaid budget. If it turns out that your contractor is less than ethical, what are you going to do about it? After all, you committed Medicaid fraud by paying out of pocket for the work and materials to begin with...
Things that make ya go Hmmm...
