To: The Missouri State House, The Missouri State Senate, and Governor Mike Parson
Missouri Lawmakers: Save DMH Regional Center Services for Our Children
Do not take away DMH Regional Center services and case management for Missouri's special needs children that don't qualify for Medicaid. Too many children and their families will be left without a very important resource they need: a case manager that knows their child's needs and cares about how to help them with the appropriate services and supports.
Why is this important?
My family will be personally impacted by this change in qualifying for DMH Regional Center case management and services. Our case manager has been with us for 20 years and knows my son's needs extremely well. Like many Missouri families, we are in danger of losing our case manager and the services that my son currently has because we will not qualify for Medicaid (which is a new requirement this year).
I advocate for many families in Missouri and they are very concerned about losing this valuable resource. Some families only have their Regional case manager to advocate for their child. Now, they will be with no one.
Case managers will only be allowed to work with Medicaid families and anyone else will be stripped of their case management and redirected to a "referral" phone contact that won't know their child and can only provide contact information for outside resources. The personal interaction between case managers and families will be gone. And Regional Center funding for these services will be gone as well.
I advocate for many families in Missouri and they are very concerned about losing this valuable resource. Some families only have their Regional case manager to advocate for their child. Now, they will be with no one.
Case managers will only be allowed to work with Medicaid families and anyone else will be stripped of their case management and redirected to a "referral" phone contact that won't know their child and can only provide contact information for outside resources. The personal interaction between case managers and families will be gone. And Regional Center funding for these services will be gone as well.