Beth Kemplin said that for the first several months after the birth of her son, Bear, she had no idea he would be severely disabled. She started to notice something was wrong when, at 10 months old, he couldn’t sit up. He didn’t babble or meet her eye. He cried 20 hours a day.
Now, at 5½ years old, Bear’s list of medical diagnoses is long: cerebral palsy, autism, a seizure disorder and pica, a compulsion to eat objects like rocks and toys.
Kemplin had to quit a job to look after Bear when he was about 1, because she couldn’t find a day care center that would take him. That forced the family to rely on cash aid and food stamps.
Then, Kemplin found Ridgeline Pediatric in Grass Valley, Calif., one of 18 day health centers around the state designed to care for kids with severe disabilities. The private facilities are staffed by nurses and funded primarily by Medi-Cal, California’s version of the Medicaid program for low-income people.
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