Paid family caregiver program flawed, says mom

The mother of a severely disabled young man in Grand Falls-Windsor says a new provincial caregiver program has serious flaws.

When health minister Susan Sullivan announced a pilot project on Monday that will allow 250 people to hire and pay relatives to take care of family members, Charmaine Noble was quick to investigate.

Noble has spent much of her time looking after her severely disabled 20-year-old son, Cody Boone. Boone has cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and a severe form of autism.

Boone has been receiving 120 hours of home care per week, but Noble said even that is not enough.

However, under the guidelines of the project, people who already receive home care, such as Noble's son, will not be able to apply to take part.

Noble family has experience with caregivers

Noble said families such as hers could provide the province with a valuable voice of experience.

"It doesn't make sense to do this pilot project with people who haven't received any of these services before because they have nothing to compare it to," said Noble. "It's a joke."

Noble said she would love to be able to pay a relative to be a caregiver for her son instead of a home care worker.

"They [relatives] are more familiar with Cody. It takes Cody weeks, if not months, to adjust to new people," said Noble.

Noble said she supports making caregivers available to more people in the province, but she had hoped that the government would spend less money and time on new projects instead of working out the flaws in the current home care system.