Developmental disabilites

An California mother has spent 10 months seeking help for her son’s speech and behavior issues from his school district and her Medicaid insurer. She still doesn’t have an answer.

Florida lawmakers in Tallahassee are considering major changes to the state's Purple Alerts used to help find missing adults who suffer from an intellectual or developmental disability.

Young children with disabilities are entitled to publicly funded therapies known as Early Intervention. Stagnant pay and a steep cost of living mean many providers can no longer afford to participate in the program.

Under the bill, the pilot program will be created in Miami-Dade, Monroe, Hardee, Highlands, Hillsborough, Manatee and Polk counties.

The 10-year-old case surrounds a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department after the agency accused Florida of unnecessarily institutionalizing children with disabilities in nursing homes.

The proposal covers people with cognitive, developmental, physical or emotional disabilities as well as those with brain injuries who go missing.

Advocates worry about a worker shortage that, they say, will only grow worse as more people qualify for the program unless lawmakers do something about increasing wages for people who provide services.

A Purple Alert would be used for missing adults with certain cognitive or developmental disabilities. A proposal just passed its first House committee stop.

After making community-based care a priority for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities, lawmakers are moving forward with bills that…

News Service of FloridaThe head of the Florida agency that helps people with disabilities told a large crowd of people Wednesday not to worry about an…