JEWISH NEWS [Palm Beach]
The question is an emotional one: Who will look out for your disabled children when you no longer can?

A division of the Ferd & Gladys Alpert Jewish Family & Children's Service hopes to find an answer for parents with modest incomes.

JFCS' Planned Lifetime Assistance Network (PLAN) of Florida recently created a pooled trust for modest-income families. It allows an unlimited number of parents to combine their resources to afford long-term care and advocacy services for their developmentally, physically or mentally disabled children.

"You have to be fairly wealthy to set up a trust," said Neil Newstein, executive director of JFCS. "This pool means a family of modest means can make sure their children are taken care of after they're gone."

Siblings Not Enough
Since it was created three years ago, PLAN has strived to provide peace of mind for parents of disabled children with a program that guarantees advocacy, monitoring and coordination of services throughout the children's lifetimes. It is open to people of any faith.

The local PLAN was started by Jean Harris of Boca Raton, the mother of an adult son who suffers from schizophrenia. She approached JFCS about bringing PLAN to South Florida after reading an article about it in the National Allicance of Mentally Ill's monthly newsletter.

"[Parents] hope siblings will do it or that the state will do it. Sometimes it gets done, but sometimes it doesn't get done," Newstein said. "We became concerned about who would look out for a disabled adult child when the parent was gone."
That's where PLAN steps in. Once a family becomes a client of the program, a series of interviews is conducted to determine the disabled person's current and future needs.

The social worker then works with the family and its legal and financial advisers to address such issues as estate planning. Care plans are reviewed regularly, observing changes in circumstances and needs.

A Parental Role
PLAN also offers monthly visits that include such services as monitoring living conditions, evaluating support services, providing guidance and helping to maintain entitlements. PLAN's services are continued throughout the disabled person's lifetime, with the case worker assuming the role of "parent" if the real parents are no longer available, said John Taylor of Palm Beach, a PLAN board member and father of a developmentally disabled adult.

"It's a support system. They follow through to make sure things like doctors appointments are kept," he said. "There is security with JFCS. People know it provides quality case management, and [it is] an organization that will be in place forever."

An application fee is required to enroll in the PLAN program that covers the costs of developing care plans, as well as related administrative expenses. PLAN's services usually are funded by the income of a gift-in-trust, which can be arranged by a family member through a will or life insurance. Taylor hopes to expand the PLAN program to Orlando.

"We really hope that the new pool program will interest more people," Taylor said. "PLAN in its normal cost is fairly expensive. Through the pool, the services of PLAN are offered at a much lower cost."

For more information on PLAN, call 684-1991 or visit www.jfcspb.org.