Missouri Families with Developmentally Disabled Children Receive Help

Children bring an immense amount of joy and love to a family relationship, but there is no doubt that they are a lot of work. Having a child can add a lot of stress to a relationship, and having a developmentally disabled child statistically places an even higher amount of stress that can lead to a greater risk of divorce. The sad truth is that sometimes the financial and emotional strain associated with caring for a family member with a developmental disability can become too much for a relationship.

The State of Missouri has stepped in with plans to relieve some of the financial burden for residents across the state. Support services for the developmentally disabled can be expensive and hard to obtain. The program run by federal, state and local funds would help families be able to afford continued in home care for their developmentally disabled children or other family members. $8 million has been given to fund the program for approximately 4,000 families with at least one developmentally disabled child or adult in 37 counties in Missouri.

There are already long wait lists for families in each of the counties expected to receive a portion of the money. The wait has been almost a decade for some of the families and city officials are grateful to be able to reduce some of the backlog and alleviate some of the financial pressure. Executive director of the Springfield Workshop stated that the families on the waiting list were “waiting for very basic services to just try and keep their family units together.”

The money has been earmarked for families to use in areas such as personal assistance, therapy and job training, and many of the counties have added substantial sums from their own budgets. With relief in the form of financial assistance, families may be able to experience some emotional reprieve as well.

Source: KY3 News “Federal, State, local funds will aid families dealing with developmental disabilities” Jay Scherder 10/13/10