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Parents, providers and state officials tell committee Kentucky lacks in-state residential options for severely autistic youth
Summary
Parents, providers and state officials told the Senate Families and Children Committee that Kentucky lacks sufficient in-state residential and intensive services for children and young adults with severe autism.
A committee panel on services for children and young adults with severe autism laid out gaps in Kentucky's continuum of care, including limited in-state residential options, workforce shortages, and long waits for diagnostic and outpatient services.
Rachel Molt Avenue, a Louisville mother, told the committee her son Frankie — diagnosed with autism at 26 months, now 15 years old, six feet tall and about 230 pounds — spent 56 days at Peace Hospital before the family arranged a residential placement in Wichita, Kansas. Molt Avenue said the placement at Heartspring was funded through Kentucky Medicaid. "The physical pain of being separated from your child ... should not be the case," she told the panel.
Molt Avenue described escalating behaviors,…
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