For anyone raising a child with an intellectual or developmental disability, the promise made by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin at the Republican National Convention that, if elected, she would be a "friend and advocate" for them has not gone unnoticed. Few constituencies are more in need of such a friend, but they've heard similar promises of help before and have reason to be doubtful.
The Republican vice presidential nominee, whose infant son Trig has Down syndrome, didn't specify what such a friend might provide. But families of special-needs kids know all too well what's needed.
What they need, first and foremost, is for politicians to put money where their mouth is - starting with support services and related community-based programs. Advocates estimate there are about 600,000 people nationwide on waiting lists for such benefits as job coaching, vocational rehabilitation, personnel assistants and respite care for exhausted caregivers.
While government programs, primarily Medicaid, customarily pay for expensive institutional care such as nursing homes, the funding falls woefully short for those who live with family (as some 60 percent of the disabled do) or seek to live independently.
A measure pending before Congress, the Community Choice Act, would require all states and the federal government to make such services more widely available to the disabled. Sen. John McCain does not support it; Sen. Barack Obama is a co-sponsor of the Senate version of the bill.
There are any number of other government programs that are desperately in need of help from a friend in the White House. Special education is supposed to receive 40 percent federal financing and now gets closer to 17 percent. Personal care service providers, who are vital to keeping disabled people living independently, are chronically underpaid and, because of that, difficult to find and retain.
The candidates' views on these matters are reflected on their Web sites. Mr. Obama's includes a nine-page treatise on his plans to help the disabled, including full funding for special education. Mr. McCain's 14 core campaign issues include the Second Amendment and the space program but not the disabled.
Mr. McCain still has time to come around on these issues and offer specific remedies in the weeks ahead. Having a poster mom for families caring for a disabled child on the ticket is not enough - particularly for aging seniors who can no longer care for middle-aged children. Friendship is nice, but families need a government willing to invest more in the future of children who require a little help if they are to live full and productive lives.
