Program supporting families with disabled family members at risk of getting cut

JACKSON, Tenn. — Kimberly Boyd lives in Martin with her 10-year-old autistic son, Ty.

For the past few years, Ty has been in and out of hospitals. He’s had kidney and blood pressure problems, and was put on a wait list for a kidney transplant.

“He was very sick, we didn’t know what was going on at the time. Chronic abdomen pain…just really sick,” said Kimberly Boyd.

Boyd made the 2.5 hour drive to Memphis multiple times a week, just to get his dialysis treatment.

Finally, in July 2019, Ty received a transplant.

“We stayed there for about three weeks. So all in all we were gone from home for about a month,” said Kimberly Boyd.

It’s a happy story–but it only turned out that way with the assistance of the Family Support Program, a non-profit which financially assists those who care for a disabled family member.

The program is funded by the state.

“It can be anything from home repair services, to assisting with premiums, to assisting with vehicle repairs,” Boyd said.

“4,700 families across Tennessee benefit from the family support program. In West Tennessee it’s about 1,000 families, and in Madison County it’s about 100,” said Sarah Sampson, the Deputy Director for the Tennessee Disability Coalition.

Even though the Family Support Program takes less than $8 million a year from Tennessee’s $33 billion dollar budget, they are still at risk of losing their funding.

“The Commissioner of the Department of Intellectual Developmental Disabilities has said that everything is on the table. Including this program,” Sampson said.

There’s a real chance the program could be cut entirely.

“It really does mean the difference between that person with a disability being supported at home, and having no choice but to be supported at an institution like a nursing home,” Sampson said.

If that happens, families like the Boyds will be the ones most affected.

“I think with everything going on, you’re going to see a greater need for assistance,” Boyd said.

The Tennessee Disability Coalition will hear a decision from the Commissioner of the Department of Intellectual Developmental Disabilities by early July.

Thousands of families could be affected.

“Families are waiting on baited breath,” remarked Sampson.