Richardson continued. with autism have waiver,” “Children very specific needs to support their daily functioning. Without waiver services, Micah would not be where he is today.” In the meantime, Key is optimistic that the New Options Waiver is just experiencing growing pains, and that she will soon be able to get back to fully focusing on her daughter, rather than worrying about how she and her husband will provide everyday needs. care of Chloe is a full-time “Taking job, one that my husband and I take on she said. gladly,” “But we need help, and not getting we’re it.” Richardson also remains I feel as if we positive. “Overall, have made it through the roughest patch of the New Options Waiver she stated. look forward to things implementation,” “I to Richardson also went on to say that after attending come.” the Office of Developmental community forums Disabilities’ and advocate meetings, she feels better equipped to handle changes with the waiver. Dukes has a specific approach that she suggested in her letter to Hall. department HAS to work with support “The coordinators and providers so that they really understand how the whole process works, from start to This way, finish.” Dukes explains, they can more accurately explain to parents how the system works and what their exact choices are. She also states that community guide training is not enough, as she is spending all of her time simply ensuring that her needs are being met. daughter’s change its waivers for 25 years, unlike the “Georgia didn’t other Hall explained. states had changed 49 states,” “Some their waivers as many as four times in that time frame. The change that happened on November 1 is a combination of three previous generations of waiver changes that, in my opinion, should have been done a long time ago.”
waiver,” Richardson continued. “Children with autism have very specific needs to support their daily functioning. Without waiver services, Micah would not be where he is today.” In the meantime, Key is optimistic that the New Options Waiver is just experiencing growing pains, and that she will soon be able to get back to fully focusing on her daughter, rather than worrying about how she and her husband will provide everyday needs. “Taking care of Chloe is a full-time job, one that my husband and I take on gladly,” she said. “But we need help, and we’re not getting it.” Richardson also remains positive. “Overall, I feel as if we have made it through the roughest patch of the New Options Waiver implementation,” she stated. “I look forward to things to come.” Richardson also went on to say that after attending the Office of Developmental Disabilities’ community forums and advocate meetings, she feels better equipped to handle changes with the waiver. Dukes has a specific approach that she suggested in her letter to Hall. “The department HAS to work with support coordinators and providers so that they really understand how the whole process works, from start to finish.” This way, Dukes explains, they can more accurately explain to parents how the system works and what their exact choices are. She also states that community guide training is not enough, as she is spending all of her time simply ensuring that her daughter’s needs are being met. “Georgia didn’t change its waivers for 25 years, unlike the other 49 states,” Hall explained. “Some states had changed their waivers as many as four times in that time frame. The change that happened on November 1 is a combination of three previous generations of waiver changes that, in my opinion, should have been done a long time ago.”