PERSONAL ASSISTANCE SERVICES
Helps people with disabilities who are seeking someone to assist them with their personal care or home chores such as shopping, cleaning, etc. Information on our services, consumer eligibility, and assistance in filling out an in-home Supportive Services application, are provided, plus assistance in filling out both consumer and personal assistant time sheets which are then mailed to the LA County offices and processed by the state.
Overwhelmed, Mrs. Jones called WCIL very upset and lost about what to do. Her back hurt and was giving out from lifting her husband and she didn't think she could do it on her own much longer. Everything was getting just too much.
She said that her husband had a stroke 6 months ago leaving him paralyzed on the left side of his body. Since then he has used a wheelchair, and needs help getting out of bed, dressing, bathing, and getting in and out of his wheelchair. When taking him to doctor's appointments, she faces the difficulty of lifting him each time he moves from the wheelchair and back.
On top of this, she worries about leaving him alone and has to ask the neighbors to keep an eye on him whenever she goes out.
Could WCIL help her? First, we called the Department of Public and Social Services and made a phone application for Mr. Jones for in-home supportive services. Next we called Access Services and arranged an interview appointment to request wheelchair transportation so that Mr. Jones could travel more easily to medical appointments. About a month later, Mrs. Jones called with the news that her husband had been approved to receive in-home supportive services (LA County will provide number of personal care hours per month and will pay for them) and had also been approved for Access Services. We gave Mrs. Jones a list of available personal caregivers so she could hire someone to assist her with her husband and be there with him when she needed to go out.
Now Mr. And Mrs. Jones are no longer frightened by the strain of handling it all themselves. They have help, but are still independent people.
