Goodlander commits to her constituents
To the editor:
When Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander visited Monadnock Worksource on Thursday, July 30th, it reminded me how hard it can be for people to see beyond my son William’s Down syndrome – and how much it matters when elected officials try.
Goodlander met with community-based groups that assist individuals with developmental disabilities and others who require support. She learned how governmental policies and excessive paperwork discourage providers from serving Medicaid clients and create additional stress for families.
Goodlander began to realize that parents advocating for their adult children have an extra full-time job juggling school services, Medicaid, SSI, respite care, housing, annual guardianship applications, assessments, meetings, and specialist appointments. Although the River Center and Monadnock Worksource provide extensive help to families, they too must navigate complex regulations and paperwork to ensure the underserved receive assistance.
The unnecessary stress the government puts on caregivers, despite legal protections, astonished Goodlander. Worksource invited her to meet organizations that provide services to those who need government support to survive. She discovered that government policy, red tape, and cuts to programs are barriers to providing services.
Goodlander connected with an underserved part of her constituency last Thursday. She could have used that time to court a politically influential group. Instead, she listened to people who are too often unseen, unheard, and unlikely to have much political power. My hope is that when she is weighing budgets and policies in Washington, Maggie Goodlander will remember the individuals behind the numbers. I am confident she will.