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Respite and Crisis Care Coalition Created in Washington State
New Alliance Responds to Lack of Services in Washington State
June 25, 2001
"My wife and my father have Alzheimer’s. I’m caring for them both, and I’m not really sure what I’m doing here."
Slow nods were seen around the room. The two-day workshop had just begun, but the compelling stories seemed to be familiar to everyone in the room. This wasn’t a support group meeting or a legislative hearing, and while some found support, most came to the table this last May for a larger purpose -- to improve the quality of respite and crisis care services throughout Washington State.
Diverse Group Comes Together
A broad array of advocates, consumers and service providers have come together to form the Respite and Crisis Care Coalition of Washington State. The diverse group hopes to address the many problems that face families and individuals in need of respite or crisis care. Advocates from a wide variety of backgrounds attended the two-day workshop that was hosted by the ARC of King County’s Kari Cunningham-Rosvik. Among those participating were advocates and providers from the foster care, mental health, aging, and disability-rights communities. Advocates representing child abuse and domestic violence groups were also in attendance, as well as current respite and crisis care providers. At the end of the conference not everyone had answers, but the newly formed Coalition had created vision, mission and values statements, goals and subcommittees, and had a lot of work to do.
Coalition Vision
Under the facilitation of Maggie Edgar and Casandra Wade of the ARCH National Respite Network and Resource Center, the following vision statement was developed:
To create and sustain a continuum of planned respite and crisis care throughout Washington State that is:
- Responsive to the unique cultural needs of each family member across the lifespan.
- Affordable and accessible.
- Coordinated and operated through de-categorized funding
- Self-determined.
- Sustainable in that it affords care-providers a living wage
- Enhanced by public and legislative awareness through outreach and education
- Legislated
The group is scheduled to meet again in September. In the meantime, the Arc of King County is assembling an e-mail distribution list to provide updates and ongoing information. Those who would like to contribute or become involved in the coalition can reach Kari Cunningham-Rosvik at the Arc of King County, 206-364-4645 ext. 137 or e-mail Kari at roshamvik@aol.com.
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