Taking care of Casey
Description
Vocal Characteristics
Language
EnglishVoice Age
Young Adult (18-35)Accents
North American (General)Transcript
Note: Transcripts are generated using speech recognition software and may contain errors.
Casey Taggart love strumming his toy guitar and singing Ready, ready Let's Eat some spaghetti. Casey's 3.5, and he was born almost three months premature. His mom, Abby Luster, says he spent 118 days in intensive care, had open heart surgery and other complications. Abby says it's resulted in a lot of developmental delays for Casey, but he has mild, cerebral palsy on one side. It's not to generative. On the other hand, he's a growing boy. So as his body grows, his muscles need to adjust to the growth to help him. Abby and her husband, Chris Taggart, have several kinds of therapists. Earlier this month, Abby said she got a call from one of them, saying she could no longer work with Casey. I'm like, Excuse me. It was like the beginning of CPS a two. It was like First week of September. We have to stop services and, like, okay, wine, she says. Apparently, there's a new contract signed, Um, and you're not allowed to use independent providers anymore, and they're taking all cases and shuffling them through the system of the three tiered system of agencies that they have now signed on with many families like the Taggart's, find therapists for their Children themselves, and the city foots the bill. But this year, for the first time, the city is requiring all families to go through City Ron agencies to find therapists. The D. O E did not return several calls for comment. Leslie Grobler is the founding director of an organization that advocates for Children with special needs. She says city agencies air just not ready yet for the policy change. There's been pretty much a wall of silence regarding this issue. It's interesting that they do believe that it's going to save money. Um, Children who have been assigned to these providers, the providers air not prepared to take on the Children. They don't have enough staff. But it's not just about them being understaffed. All right, Casey, what I'm going to get now. What's that radio? It's a red circle. My name is Ileana Esquina. I'm a physical therapist, and I have been working with cases since he was a few months old, Yelena says. When she heard about the change in policy, she tried to find out what joining a larger agency would mean for her the pay 33% less than I'm being paid right now. Casey's parents say choosing their own therapist helps them in terms of finding someone who bonds with their son, finding someone who lives close by and finding someone who fits into their busy schedules. We have, like six calendars between the two of us trying to figure out who's taking care of him, who is taking him to what therapy when he has to go see the doctor for X y Z. It's a challenge. I sometimes feel like I need a personal assistant to do all the scheduling. It's just it's tiring and it's overwhelming. Casey's mom, Abby, says her family's relatively lucky. She's fought to keep Yelena as Casey's physical therapist for this year, but Abby and her husband, Chris, are worried about next year. Just getting the therapy isn't isn't enough for us. Having the right people for the right job is what was important for us. With that uncertainty weighing on their minds, Abby and Chris will be joining parents and advocates on Sunday for a major rally at City Hall. Que go Sana? Big Colombia radio news. How a Y yeah, what you Uhh