Caregiving for children with special needs is a crucial but often unseen, undervalued and underpaid labor sector in our community and one that falls heavily on the family unit.   

Currently, Washington state offers waiver funds to children with developmental disabilities and complex medical needs to cover the cost of caregiving in the home.  This program was intended to keep children out of medical institutions and in the family home which benefits the child and saves the State millions in costs. All of these children have gone through an extensive evaluation process to qualify for the benefits that they are eligible to receive.  

However, Washington only allows parents to be paid caregivers if their child is over 18 years old.  For many of these children, the personal care hours they qualify for go unused because finding a trustworthy caregiver is a daunting task.  The state suggests that we use friends or family members and have them go through the lengthy training and certification process in order to be eligible to work as a paid caregiver.  As a result, few parents are successful in finding and/or keeping qualified caregivers and are therefore not able to access the funds promised them.

Children with complex medical needs require an even higher level of care.  These children have multiple significant chronic health problems that affect multiple organ systems and result in functional limitations, high health care and resource utilization and often need medical technological devices to improve or sustain life and daily function.  Children with complex medical needs qualify for skilled nursing in their homes for a significant portion of the day to assist families in managing their care.  The nursing shortage has left many of these families with very little or no nursing coverage at all.

The growing caregiver shortage has forced many parents to leave their job in order to become a full-time, unpaid caregiver. This places immense stress on the entire family unit as they struggle financially and emotionally in a single income household with no support.  This strain is even greater for single parent households who are left to both provide care and support for their family. 

Over half of the states currently allow or are working towards a paid parent caregiver program.  Washington is unfortunately not one of them. We are asking our state to remove the barrier that excludes parents from being a paid caregiver for minors.  We need your help!

By signing this petition, you will help encourage the Washington state legislature to remove the unfair age restrictions placed on caregiver qualifications allowing families access to the services intended to support children living with disabilities.

This petition was created by Parents Empowering Parents, Washington ( PEP WA).  We are a team of parent caregivers advocating for a solution to the caregiving crisis that affects us all.  We love our children and want to provide them with the best life possible but we can not and should not have to do it alone.