Housing for Adults with Disabilities in Nebraska

Parents or caregivers of children with developmental disabilities have an unspoken burden that many are afraid to talk about. What will happen to their child after their passing? While holding two focus groups, one with English-speaking participants and one with Spanish-speaking participants, many commonalities were discovered amongst the caregivers. Caregivers want to find someone who will provide the same amount of love and care that they provide themselves. Unfortunately, these caregivers are unaware of their resources available to them because of a lack of information. The Latino caregivers have the even harder task of finding resources even though some don’t have a Social Security Number and often a language barrier. Latino’s rely more on family contacts to care for their loved one post-death than the English-speaking population. Both groups have goals and desires of finding resources that allow their children to work, make an income higher than peace-rate, be monitored without being over-pressured, a social life, and a positive quality of life. Unfortunately, the rural areas of Nebraska are lacking in residential services as the life expectancy of people with developmental disabilities is increasing. Statewide, Nebraska needs to provide more residential settings for people with developmental disabilities and resources that provide them with a quality of life similar to any other Nebraska resident without disabilities does