Hope and Pray

November 20, 2009: I lost my job.

November 22, 2009: I put in for unemployment.

Every day since November 20, 2009: I’ve pounded the pavement, looking for something – anything – to get me back into the work force. Unemployment sure isn’t going to last forever, and I don’t want to be on that ship when it goes down.

December 17, 2009: I spent a good two hours on the phone with someone at our county DHS office, applying for health coverage for myself, The Hubbs and The Princess. I know we bring home too much on unemployment to qualify for cash assistance or food stamps, and I wouldn’t want to take those benefits away from anyone who truly needs them. I was told that we would have an answer within forty-five days regarding our eligibility for health coverage. Truth be told, I’m most concerned about The Princess. She was getting fairly close to aging out of EI at the time of this call.

Sometime in late February/Early March 2010: I received a letter from DHS saying that my application is still being processed.

Mid-March 2010: I called the number for All Kids to check on our application, and was told it’s still being processed. When I asked for a time estimate, the CSR told me it usually takes forty-five days. When I mentioned the fact that it was now going on three months since my application, he didn’t know what to say, stammering an apology.

March 20, 2010: I received a letter in the mail from another DHS office in a different county, asking for more information to be able to process my request. I. Was. Furious. The letter was dated March 18. Three full months after my application, and now they’re asking for records since the application was originally put in? Why didn’t they just process it the first time? And what the hell was my application doing in a different county?

March 22, 2010: I called the representative whose name was listed on the letter. She was not at her desk, so I left a message. I didn’t expect her to call right back, and was so grateful when she did. She was very nice, and walked through the requests with me, making sure I knew exactly what I needed to send to get our application processed as quickly as possible. She explained that our county’s office is extremely overwhelmed with requests right now, and that her office has stepped in to try to help. I’ve spent all morning dealing with this, and have just finished faxing all of the requested information to her office for approval.

April 11, 2010: The Princess turns three. That is the day she will age out of EI, and lose all related services. We have her IEP meeting tomorrow, but I would feel so much better knowing that we had health coverage for her to help with supplemental therapies that the school can’t provide. Lord knows she won’t be able to ride a horse to help her get centered at school.

Cross your fingers. Hope and pray with me that this woman in another county can help me to get this request processed in time for her third birthday. Hope and pray with me that the program director for the 3-21 program calls me back, and that we can get hooked up with a service coordinator who can come with us to the IEP meeting tomorrow. Hope and pray that we don’t have to be cut off from all of our current service providers, our guardian angels who are helping The Princess make such leaps and bounds.

Hope and pray with me. Please, hope and pray with me.