[triton1]

With the many users on this forum, I am very surprised that nobody seems to know what independent living is like for people with disabilities in the state of Florida. Especially for instance, options of what type of residence one can get, quality of services provided by centers for independent/supported living, and overall quality of life for the disabled individuals who are living independently. By the way, i have also happened to read on the website Agency for Persons with Disabilities - APD about even people with severe disabilities having their own place of residence in the state of Florida, does anyone have any comment on that?

[blitzpooch]

That's a little down the road for us as my son is only six. I truly hope we are out of the state by the time he is older. It is the pits...after being on the Medwaiver waiting list for two years, we are looking at a minimum of a three year wait. We're a middle class family so don't qualify for any assistance whatsoever...but we have a number of other medical issues to deal with so it's very hard. Our insurance is out of state and there are few pediatric providers on the plan here. N is due for a cardiology visit soon and I'm wondering how we will pay for that!

A friend of ours' son is moving into some kind of home facility in New Tampa this week. I think he will go to a day program during the day. I don't know what else there is around here. You are right, it is definitely a needed service.

[daniellefort]

We do have some assisted living facilities here in my county where basically people live independently but meet in the dining rooms for meals and activities t but they are VERY VERY expensive to live in.

[Floridamom1970]

blitz, Do not hold your breath waiting for that medicaid waiver. I have a severely autistic ten year old daughter who has been on the wait list since December 2001. Last we heard there were "only" five thousand and some odd people ahead of her. In my opinion it is a CRYING SHAME when families who are desperatley in need of services for these children are having to wait for so many years just to get them.

My husband is also disabled and we are getting out of this state one way or another. I have come to the conclusion that Florida is great if you have the money or are lucky enough to find a job that will pay well enough with good benefits.I am not saying that we expect to find utopia when we move, but we need a lower cost of living. We can get a handicapped accessible home from Habitat for Humanity, but will have even less square footage than we do now and will have to live in a bad part of town that they are trying to "revitalize". That is not what I want for my husband or kids.We are lower income, so our choices are limited.We are planning to move when my husband gets approved for disability since I will have to quit my job here.

My understanding is that all states are basically given the same amount of block grant money to spend on programs for the disabled. I really do not understand this since the states that are more populated will most likely have a larger number of people who need these services than say Idaho, where there are more cows than people.

[Strel]

These people may be able to help/have some information for you:

Spinal Cord Living-Assistance Development, Inc. They are a non-profit CHDO (Community Housing Development Organization) in Hialeah, FL.
(305) 887-8838

*FYI - I am not affiliated with this organization in any way, just aware of their existence.

[Ladywithafan]

Mom went into an independent living facility in Pompano the end of March. She was back home in 33 days. I will not name this facility except to say it's hub is in Pompano. She had tripped over a live wire that had been reported to mgt. as being down right before she came home. They never responded to me regarding this incident. When I came to drive her car home from the east coast back to our side, there was no lighting to see at night down the walkway to her place. She said that they came in at all hours of the night to "check" on things. I've read about that in the newspapers previously over in the greater Ft. Lauderdale area. Personally, I told her she'd do better to hire someone to help her for five hours a day, since she's basically self functional anyhow, than to go into one of these death camps. She said it was very hard to be around people her own age with their illnesses & handicaps. It made her just want to die. I told her it wasn't for her, but she doesn't listen to me. No worries, like I said, 33 days. Thank god her house didn't sell.

Oh, & buy in was $150K and family doesn't get anything back on that, should the parent decease. and $2,5K a month....hello? And, that was with the 20 meals plan....food sucks...bland to appeal to everyone...

I think I"ll have that a cyanide martini before I'd ever go into one of those places.

[triton1]

A lot of people with disabilities usually are incapable of working and generally receive SSI, a federal grant type monthly payment, usually around $600 a month, no more, no less. Generally, facilities/centers for independent living are supposed to be able to give the disabled person a place to live without sapping his/her entire income and throw him/her into the poorhouse. I mean, certainly it could be done even in expensive areas, couldn't it? Because it is very wrong to deny people with disabilities a decent place of residence and/or leave him/her without any money for meals and such.

[daniellefort]

Originally Posted by triton1

A lot of people with disabilities usually are incapable of working and generally receive SSI, a federal grant type monthly payment, usually around $600 a month, no more, no less. Generally, facilities/centers for independent living are supposed to be able to give the disabled person a place to live without sapping his/her entire income and throw him/her into the poorhouse. I mean, certainly it could be done even in expensive areas, couldn't it? Because it is very wrong to deny people with disabilities a decent place of residence and/or leave him/her without any money for meals and such.

This is something i have to think about as well since i have a 14 year old blind daughter. I just look to the future as her living with us always. My dad on the other hand is in a regular nursing home and he's only in his late 60's. His only problem is he can't live independently and needs reminders to take his medicine and showers and so forth and there are no assisted living facilities nearby for him to go to. He was recieving just over $1000 a month for SSI and a veteran benefit and he has to turn his entire check over to the nursing home every month and has Medicaid to back up any extra expense. The only amount he gets to keep from his check is $20 a month!! My brother, sister and I have to buy him his clothing when he needs it because $20 isn't enough to buy a pair of slippers and socks.

[momix5]

It is terrible how elderly or disabled and the veterans are treated in this country. It is the same in NY they work for so long to have their homes and savings taken from them. I worked in many nursing homes in NY and maybe 1 I would have considered to put a family member in.

[daniellefort]

Originally Posted by momix5

It is terrible how elderly or disabled and the veterans are treated in this country. It is the same in NY they work for so long to have their homes and savings taken from them. I worked in many nursing homes in NY and maybe 1 I would have considered to put a family member in.

Well we hated to put my dad in there too but thankfully my sister in law is an RN that works on the same floor he is on so she keeps a watchful eye on him. It's not something we wanted to do but sometimes that's the only option. It's a shame everything gets taken from them. He only had $10,000 in the bank before he went in the nursing home and we had to dispose of that money even before Medicaid would pick up his bills. He couldn't even give it to my daughter as a gift who is blind to help her out which is what he wanted to do. He had to turn in receipts for where that money went. I