On this episode of Parenting Impossible, Annette chats with Blaine Brockman, a passionate advocate for the safety of individuals with special needs as well as the elderly. Blaine and Annette talk about safety in the community as well as the necessary steps for community integration.

Blaine discusses with Annette the concepts of community living, and supportive living where individuals are able to live and thrive out in the community with needed support. They discuss the various options as well as how some of these housing arrangements can be funded such as Medicaid. Are there family supports in place as well as the relationship between landlord and tenant.

They also dig into how a person can live out in the community with dignity and how to assess the risks of someone with special needs living independently. Those risks can include all types of assaults, relationship risks and the nature of those risks that could present themselves.

Blaine talks about the services that can support a family such as groups and other outlets and how a family can balance risks, the system and the needs of their special needs loved one.

Blaine also makes sure to point out that as a special needs family, you need to ask for what you feel you need and have a right to have, challenge the system when appropriate and advocate for your loved one as well as be assertive when necessary. He says, accept nothing less than safe.

Other topics Annette and Blaine discuss are day programs and how those programs can be funded.

Attorney Blaine Brockman is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) and a member of the Academy of Special Needs Planners (ASNP). He is also Co-chair of the NAELA Special Needs Law Steering Committee and Co-chair of the NAELA Federal Advocacy Committee. He is the immediate past Chair of the OSBA Elder and Special Needs Law Committee.

Blaine had a 30-year career with the State of Ohio. In that time, he was the Assistant Executive Director of the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, a human resource administrator for two agencies and a law enforcement officer with the Ohio Department Natural Resources.

You can reach out to Blaine Brockman at: [email protected]