Senate supports Sen. Baldacci bill to help parents of disabled children

AUGUSTA — On Thursday, the Maine Senate voted in favor of a bill from Sen. Joe Baldacci, D-Bangor, to allow parents who are providing in-home personal care services to their child to register as a personal care agency. LD 1204, “An Act To Address the Shortage of Direct Care Workers for Children with Disabilities in Maine,” received unanimous support.

“For years, families with disabled children have been scrambling for help. The sad reality is that too many hardworking parents can’t get access to the care their kids need and are entitled to because there simply aren’t enough direct-care workers in the state,” said Sen. Baldacci. “This bill recognizes the hard work these families put into taking care of their disabled kids, and provides them with some much-needed financial support. I’m grateful this bill received such strong support in the Senate.”

LD 1204 would make way for parents to be reimbursed for the costs of care by registering as a personal care agency. Maine has been facing a shortage of direct care workers for years and has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The bill would address in a small way the very real problem that parents of children with disabilities have in finding direct support professionals to work in their homes. This is an especially acute problem in the more rural parts of the state,” said Betsy Mahoney, Community Outreach Director for Autism Society of Maine, in testimony supporting the bill. “Allowing parents to be paid to support their children also makes sense because many of these parents have given up jobs if not careers to stay at home. Reimbursing them would make up for some of the lost income.”

LD 1204 faces further votes in the Legislature.