Handicapped man at mercy of welfare plan
By NICK GALLO
Of the Emerald
"I don't know who they expect to work for 42 cents an
hour. Nobody s that crazy."
Andy Clement, a 24-year-old University graduate
handicapped with muscular dystrophy, is angry at the
Welfare Department.
The Welfare Department allows S300 per month for
Clement's live-in attendant through a program called
Alternative Care. The program pays attendants in lieu of
nursing homes. It aims to help handicapped people
escape institutionalized roles by supporting them in the
community.
Emerald Staff Photo
But the wages simply aren’t enough, according to
Clement. “I spent a month trying to find a replacement this
winter. If my family wasn’t here to help out, I’d have been
lost,’’ he says.
Higher wages will attract more people. I'm a little at
the mercy of hiring anyone who applies for the job," he
notes. “I had an attendant one time rip me off for a
month’s payment and my food stamps."
Clement's present attendant is Craig Cruseau, who
has been working on and off for a year. It is a
24-hour-a-day job—one that includes cooking, cleaning,
giving medical assistance and being on call through the
night.
Cruseau stresses that he works for Clement because
he is his friend. He laughs when he says the money isn't
much of an incentive to stay.
Why are wages so low? Paul Richmond, who is
Clement's caseworker at the Welfare Department, admits
it is a compromise.
The $300 amount is a flat rate. The cost would be
prohibitive if we paid by the hour,” says Richmond. He
adds that clients are given a $573 a month allowance if
they are in a nursing home.
Clement claims that the Welfare Department is
saving money with the Alternative Care program. His
benefits, including his attendant s wages, add up to $452
a month. That's $126 less than if he were in a nursing
home.
Jim MacDonald, deputy ombudsman on Gov.
Straub's staff, promises the matter is being given a full
review.
“If this, in fact, is a 24-hour-a-day job, then the
present wages are woefully inadequate, mickle and dime'
stuff,” he says. 'If a community cares, and I don't mean
the mushy kind of caring, it should deal realistically with
paying for these programs.'
Clement, who has a college degree and is now
job-hunting, can only agree. Forty-two cents an hour just
isn't enough.
ALERT tries to dispel myths
By SUSAN RYAN
Of the Emerald
How many misconceptions do you have about peo
ple in wheelchairs? Do you look the other way or cross the
street when such a person approaches?
Some of them talk funny. I suppose they're mentally
a little off.' ”
"I never smile at them because they might think I'm
just pitying them."
ALERT is an organization trying to dispel such com
mon myths. Director Loren Simonds says handicapped
people face more than just architectural barriers on cam
pus. While much has been done in the last few years to
bring handicapped people out of hiding, misconceptions
concerning the handicapped present a big problem for
people trying to be active members of society.
Our main purpose,' says Simonds, is to bnng more
awareness of our problems to the public, to educate. We
have a lack of transportation, housing and employment,
but our biggest lack is that of social acceptance
ALERT'S efforts would take place through publicity,
films on the handicapped, symposiums, lectures—but
ALERT is facing a fundamental lack—money. Supported
entirely by the ASUO, it was one of the most severely cut
programs. Now affiliated with ESCAPE, the group needs
many volunteers willing to gain credit hours by working.
People are vary naive about the handicapped,
says Simonds. Some think that because we re physically
handicapped, we re also mentally deficient. They don t
realize we re responsible people, and that just because
we may get around on wheels, we're still all human be
ings,” he said.
People wishing to volunteer and get credit hours may
still sign up all this week by visiting the tables located in
the breezeway between the old and new EMU, or by
contacting the ALERT office. 686-4383.
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