Remote Work

The United States Department of Justice and the State of Maine settled a complaint alleging that the state doesn’t provide community services for children with behavioral health challenges.I spoke to Eric and Gail Phetteplace. Their son Henry is 15, is on the autism spectrum and is nonverbal. In recent years, he has become aggressive. “I have to be really careful around stairs, I just have to be very aware of where he is, and that has been challenging. I have to be on at all times when he’s home,” Gail said.She added that handling Henry is a two person job, thankfully Eric is able to work from home.”I can’t handle Henry. Henry’s 15 now, he’s as big as I am,” Gail said. “When he was little, I could handle him by myself, but now that he’s 15, I need Eric there when I need him there, and that interrupts his work.”Henry gets 14 hours a week of in-home support from the state. Even that’s new, up until about two weeks ago he only got six hours. Henry qualifies for 20 hours, but Gail says the doctors think he really needs more.”These people are working on skills with these children, and we’re working together on these skills and it’s just we need these people,” Gail said.The Phetteplaces shared information about their struggles with the Department of Justice in a lawsuit against the state. “There’s been a standing problem with Maine’s delivery with children’s behavioral health services,” said Atlee Reilly, of Disability Rights Maine.”The idea is that you shouldn’t have to be institutionalized to get your behavioral health needs met. You should be able to get those needs met in your home and in your community,” Reilly said.The Department of Justice and the state reached a settlement last week, now Maine children will be required to get the services they need.Governor Janet Mills said these issues redate her administration. “We know that there have been horrible stories about wait lists and kids in need not being able to get critical services and so we’re addressing this in the settlement agreement,” Mills told Maine’s Total Coverage in an interview.For kids like Henry, this settlement might be too late.”For us, I’m not sure that anything will change,” Gail said. “It’s going to take some time to implement all of these changes, but for the next generation, I’m hoping it’ll be different and easier for those parents.”