A NUMBER of local families are without benefits to care for their disabled children.
Local service provider, In Home Child Care coordinator Julie Paul said she was notified by the Family Assistance Office of nine families in the area whose benefits have been stopped on the grounds they no longer qualify for the allowance, despite the fact that their circumstances had not changed. Member for Paterson, Bob Baldwin has expressed concerned for the families.
“Without notice, the parents were notified they no longer qualified for a respite carer. The carer would help feed and mind the children so that their mother could do simple tasks such as the groceries, washing and cooking.”
Mr Baldwin had a heartbreaking meeting with a young Great Lakes family, the Robertsons, who struggled to cope when their respite carer was unexpectedly cut prior to Christmas.
Mr Robertson works a full time job to support the family including the hefty cost of medication, while the mother Sandy suffers fibromyalgia, which means she cannot lift or carry her children. Their six-year-old girl has aspergers and ADHD and their three-year-old boy Griffin suffers cerebral palsy with spasticity and dystonia which require him to be peg fed.
After a desperate plea, the carer has been reinstated temporarily, however, the Federal Government will not guarantee that further cuts will not be made.
“It was devastating. I’ve never been at such a low point in my life,” Sandy Robertson said. “I was desperate. My family unit broke down and for three weeks we had no idea how we were going to manage, physically and emotionally. They’ve said that anyone currently getting the benefit will continue to get it if their situation doesn’t change, but I’ve seen how easy it is to have the rug pulled out from under me.”
Families are required to reapply for the Special Child Care Benefit every 13 weeks. The changes to the eligibility criteria for the benefit are simply cost-cutting measures, Ms Paul said. Three of the nine families have since had their Special Child Care Benefit reinstated, she said, following appeals and ongoing lobbying. Their applications were resubmitted and reassessed, but these aren’t the only families out there suffering because of the cuts, Ms Paul said.
“Part of the problem is that the benefit does not provide for families that require long term support.” Assistance is given if the child is deemed to be at risk of abuse or neglect, she said, ‘but it is up to the individual how you determine children at risk. It may not be intentional risk, but without a bit of assistance with special needs children in the home, the children would not reach their full potential.”
Mr Baldwin has called on Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Minister Kate Ellis to urgently review the cuts in childcare funding.
“The (Robertson) family and others like it have absolutely no medium or long term guarantee that they will get the support they need to simply care for their children,” he said.
“If these two children had to be placed into full time care, the cost to their wellbeing, the health of the family, and the taxpayer would be immense.
“The best thing the Government can do is ensure that these parents who are doing their best to hold the family together in extremely difficult circumstances through no fault of their own, get the long term support they need.”
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