ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — More than 14,000 special needs families are gathering in Orlando to participate in the 26th annual Family Café, one of the largest disability conferences in the country.
Since 1998, the annual Family Café has brought Floridians with all kinds of disabilities together for a weekend filled with information, training and networking.
The conference aims to connect families with the resources and support services they need.
This comes after Florida announced record funding for people in need of disability services.
But advocates say that won’t cover the backlog of 26,000 special-needs Floridians who are seeking additional assistance.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced in April that more than $2.2 billion would be provided for Department of Disability Services through the IBudget waiver.
The waiver provides social, medical, behavioral and therapeutic services to individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities.
This allows people with special needs to access services in their home and community that are not covered by Medicaid.
“Demand for waiver services has increased steadily, and supply often can’t keep up,” said Jeremy Countryman, vice president of Family Cafe.
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Countryman said the new funding will help clear some of the backlog for Florida families currently on the IBudget waiver waiting list, but it won’t meet all the need.
About 26,000 Floridians are currently on a waiting list for an IBudget waiver, according to disability advocacy groups.
“There’s always some kind of process or waiting list for people who can’t access the new funds,” Countryman said. “One of the reasons we’re here is to help people find things that will help them in that interim period.”
The annual Family Café has been helping families connect with these additional resources for more than 20 years.
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At this year’s event, NSU’s Disability Inclusion and Advocacy Law (DIAL) Clinic hosted a drop-in session focused on helping families develop decision-making agreements and other guardianship alternatives.
These legal documents help families with children with special needs as they transition into adulthood.
“Everyone with a disability should be able to live as independently as possible, and the more tools we give them to do that, the better,” said Matthew Dietz, director of the DIAL Clinic.
Meanwhile, Lalita Tooley told Channel 9 she found community at the Family Café about 20 years ago, when her now-adult sons were just children.
Tooley’s sons, Jack, 18, have autism and Connor, 20, have Down’s syndrome.
She attends the conference every year and now serves as a presenter to help other parents learn how to support their children with special needs.
“This has changed my life because I’m not alone. There are other mothers and parents out there just like me,” Tooley said.
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