Wall Street Journal Recommends Wrightslaw as Resource for
Parents of Disabled Children
In
For Some Parents, the Care Can't End, a hard hitting article
about parents of disabled children, Wall Street Journal reporter Kelly
Greene recommends Pete & Pam
Wright & Wrightslaw as "Advocacy resources for parents
of children with disabilities." (July 2, 2002)
Greene shines a bright light on an oft-forgotten group, "Parents
whose children return to the nest after they are struck by a dread disease,
or who have developmental disabilities that prevent them from ever leaving
in the first place. The group is so little noticed that in November,
2000, when Congress created the National Family Caregiver Support Program,
it offered virtually no aid to parents caring for adult children."
"Still, an estimated 2.7 million adult children with developmental
disabilities live at home with a family caregiver. One in four live
with a caregiver who is 60 or older. No one has even tried to count
parents caring for older children with cancer, AIDS, and terminal illnesses
like Huntington's. But the numbers are growing as medical advances extend
the lives of the ill and disabled."
"In response, lawmakers and businesses are starting to help. Several
state and local governments are jumping into the 'respite' business
-- assembling pools of temporary caregivers who can give parents a much
needed break and, in some cases, helping to pay for such services. At
the same time, groups such as the National Respite Coalition,
based in Annandale, VA, are pushing more states to offer similar help."
Seeking Relief
Parents caring for grown children with special needs have limited resources
they can turn to. Here are some starting points:
| |
Contact |
What
it Provides |
| Respite
Care |
ARCH National Respite Network & Resource Center
www.chtop.com/ARCH/
Locator/index.htm
|
State by state list of more than 2,300 local respite services. |
| Legal
|
Pete and Pam Wright / Wrightslaw
www.wrightslaw.com
|
Advocacy resources for parents of children with disabilities
|
| |
Brian
Rubin
www.specialneeds
futureplanning.com
|
Letter of advice to parents and a guide to writing an "information
letter" to future guardians and trustees. |
| Financial
Planning |
MetLife
Inc.
www.metlife.com/desk/
or
(877) 638-3375
|
Division of Estate Planning for Special Kids, or MetDesk, offers
financial planning and other resources |
| |
Merrill Lynch & Co.
http://askmerrill.ml.com/
|
Special
Needs Financial Services calculator helps parents estimate a child's
lifetime financial needs |
To read the full text of For Some Parents, the Care Can't End,
go to the Wall Street Journal site
and search for articles written by reporter Kelly Greene.
