Group Homes

Choosing whether to put your child in a group home can be a difficult decision for many parents who have children with severe disabilities. They can be criticized with whatever choice they make, but the critics don’t know anything until they go a day in their shoes. It can be a difficult living situation, or ever dangerous for some of the people living there. It mostly depends on the child but I always back up sending a child with disabilities to a group home. It may sound harsh at first but there are logical reasons for doing it.

If the child is a danger to themself or others they should probably be put into a group home. Most parents have jobs and it is hard to keep up with a child that could be threatening another child in the home. Sometimes the children get too big and strong and the parents just cannot physically keep them out of harm’s way. This is when it is time to move the child to a group home, where they can get the necessary care to live a happy and safe life.

Another reason is what happens if the parents were to get into some kind of accident? The child would lose any consistency they had prior to the accident and be forced into a group home, which would cause a lot of unnecessary stress. If they were already in a group home they would get just have one thing change in that instance, not everything at once.

Another benefit would be having happier time with them. It might not be more time but the visits can be full of fun and happiness instead of stress of trying to take care of them 24/7. That may sound bad but it can be very stressful and it takes a toll on the whole family. Visiting them would be much less stressful than having them at home. This creates a better environment for everyone in the family because everyone can be happy and everyone can have a peaceful place to live, getting the attention they need. They also have a lot less stress in the household.

All of this being said, it is still completely based on the child, and their age. Some are ready to move out earlier than others, while others need to move out before others would ever move out. This is all based on the need and readiness of the child, or adult in some cases.