Tragically, the State of Texas is not taking care of the children that it brought into the world without giving a thought to how it would care for them. For it is without a doubt the responsibility of the State of Texas to provide babysitting, drugs, food, clothing, books, magazines, video games, candy, and medical care for all children that reside within the borders of the state of Texas. And their children's children. And their children's children's children. And so on.
Heidi Carabine can't imagine life without help for her little boy.
The 7-year-old is bright, sweet and loving, she says. He likes peanut butter. He loves computers.
But Collin Carabine lives in a state of chaos. He suffers from pervasive development disorder, a problem that affects his motor skills, speech development and social behavior. He's easily distracted and has trouble learning. Simple tasks — such as bathing and dressing — require supervision.
He obsesses. He fixates. Sometimes, he throws things.
"If he drops a crayon in art class, and it rolls away so he can't reach it, he may start throwing scissors," Carabine said.
Managing that chaos takes time, energy and money. State and local programs provide the Austin boy therapy, case management and after-school care. Now, as budget cuts passed during the 78th Legislature take their toll on health and human services, Collin risks losing that help.
"They are leaving these children with no chance," Carabine said. "I am so angry and appalled at the government right now."
And rightfully so.
On Sept. 1, more than 500,000 children with coverage statewide — including 13,397 in Travis County — will lose most of their mental health coverage through the Children's Health Insurance Program.
And the Austin Travis County Mental Health Mental Retardation Center lost $3.5 million, or 9.4 percent of its annual budget, for 2004. The center estimates that 32 mentally ill adults will, in turn, lose in-home services such as rental assistance and dental care. Another 68 people with mental retardation likely will lose home-based help with respite care, job training and wheelchair ramps.
Nearly 10% of this center's budget has been lost. I'm sure no one can relate to that, because everyone else's income has gone up while their expenses have gone down. This is the real world, after all.
But Carabine says she knows she'll lose out. The single mom estimates she's received more than $10,000 a year in aid from the center. She's expecting $2,500 next year.
Now Carabine will have to come up with money for the attendant who cares for Collin and medical expenses not covered by insurance, both provided now by the Travis County mental health system. She knows she'll have to choose between her son's attendant, therapy and medical care because she can't afford all three.
"If these children are not helped, they'll end up in prisons or institutions," she said. "That's where our tax money is going to go, and they're going to be dependent on it for the rest of their lives."
Heidi Carabine is helpless to keep her child out of prison. But this is fine because she is also not responsible for keeping him out of prison. How could she be? She's his mother, and as such should never have to worry her pretty little head about his welfare. That's for the State of Texas to do.
As an aside, is "pervasive development disorder" in any way related to having an ineffective and noncaring parent?
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