How the Self Determination Program can Help you Hire the Perfect Care-taker
When I first heard about the Self-Determination Program the main thing that grabbed my attention was the idea that enrolling in the program could actually make Respite Services work for families with special needs children.
Many families have Respite Services approved by their Regional Centers. It sounds great at first. “Wow a break from our care-taking duties please sign me up!”
But, for many other families, the excitement soon wears off when they realize securing a dependable Respite worker is much harder than it looks. Some families manage to make Respite work by hiring a family-member or friend but many do not have that option so they opt to hire a worker through the agency.
Because of the low-pay offered to agency Respite workers the worker turn-over rate is high. My clients have told me they have gone through many failed attempts to secure Respite Workers. They go through the interview process, and chose a candidate but it often ends up a frustrating and disappointing experience.
Families have workers not even bother to show up on the first day of work, or flake out by the second week or third. I have even heard of familes being completely ghosted when they are depending on the worker to show up so they can get to an important appointment.
Families with special-needs kiddos are already busy and stressed enough. We do not need Respite services to end up just feeling time-consuming and frustrating when they are actually supposed to be helpful and provide relief.
The Self-Determination Program offers a solution.
It offers the ability to bypass the Respite Agency and hire our own care-provider at your own decided pay-rate.
You can make your own decisions regarding your loved ones budget. To chose what was actually best for them and more supportive to their needs.
Care-workers need to be paid a living wage to remain steady employees. You want to be able to pay the person you hire the rate they deserved, and a rate that will guarantee that they will show up to work, No more flakiness, quitting and ghosting — you need dependability from whoever you hire to support your loved one.
My clients have success stories with hiring staff as soon as they enroll in SDP. They can set the rate themselves and there are even job benefits for the employee such as paid sick days.
I love to see my clients lives get easier when they have good caretakers. One family I supported to transition to SDO, finally got a weekly date night in their schedule. Another client’s parents was able to have a Caretaker come to events with then so they could help them with elopement issues and be an extra set of hands.
It has been a great privilege to have watched the Self-Determination Program change so many of my client’s lives. Especially with the ability to finally be able to hire dependable staff.
You could say that SDP has helped many of my client’s families take a, “Life Leap.”
Do you want to be able to choose who you hire to care for your child or loved one? Do you want to be able to make decisions about your child’s budget and actually receive the supports you need to help your child and to be an optimal care-giver?
If this sounds great to you, then reach out to me today. Let’s chat about how I can help with the transition into the Self-Determination Program.
