When families cannot find care

Brittany Gendron told lawmakers she was the child harmed in the case that put her mother on the registry. Today, she is her mother’s caregiver.

Children deserve protection. Survivors deserve support and a voice in decisions that affect their lives. Listening to Gendron means making room for her whole story, including the harm she experienced and the care problem she now faces.

She said her mother is disabled and has growing problems with thinking and understanding. Gendron helps her meet registration duties, even as her mother struggles to understand what she signs. She described repeated barriers to nursing care, as well as rules that kept her from bringing her mother into her own home.

Gendron asked for a process that considers a person’s current medical condition and ability to understand the rules. Her account is her own. Survivors have different needs and views; each deserves to be heard.

The bill she mentions, HB3606, passed the Oklahoma House. The official record checked October 16 did not show that it had become law. This hearing did not enact relief.

Her testimony also leaves lawmakers with a practical question: When a person needs help eating, moving or understanding basic instructions, how will that person receive safe care?

No survivor should be expected to forgive, reunite with, or care for the person who harmed them. A family’s choice to help should not leave it without support.

Care that protects everyone

Researcher Stephanie Jerstad urged lawmakers to look at the individual’s health, abilities, history and current risk. She also stressed the duty to protect other residents. Her approach included care plans, supervision, staffing and room placement suited to the person.

Age alone cannot tell us what care or supervision someone needs. That takes a careful look at the person and the place where care would be provided.

This concern has a history in Florida. In 2020, FAC asked for help finding assisted-living and nursing facilities willing to accept people required to register. In 2022, FAC featured Jerstad’s long-term-care research. Her facility study examined Illinois. Florida needs its own clear answers about access to care.

What families are left to carry

Jerstad then returned to the family. She described relatives taking on tasks such as helping with toileting, feeding, managing medicine and registration, sometimes without the training, money or suitable home to do so safely.

Love does not give a family nursing skills or make a home safe for someone with serious care needs. Florida’s lawmakers should hear from those families, registered people, survivors, care workers, lawyers and others responsible for public safety. They should ask where care is available, what blocks it and what safeguards each person needs.