Consider
this example: John, age 30, lives in a group home in Pennsylvania
where he is well established and has many friends. His parents
are deceased. His sister, Alice, lives in Texas and his
brother, Ralph, lives in California.
To
encourage Ralph and Alice to visit John as frequently as
possible, the SNT should pay for all of their travel expenses.
We do not want their spouses grumbling about such expenditures
or a sibling to have to choose between visiting John or
saving money for their own children's college education.
For
similar reasons, a fee should be available to compensate
Alice and Ralph for their time. While some might protest
that siblings should do this without being paid, their time
is important and we want to encourage - - not discourage
- - involvement. The SNT can also reimburse Alice and Ralph
for any child care expenses, as well as all other expenses
incurred as a result of visiting John.
Even
if Alice and Ralph live next door to John, there will be
a similar expense for child care, for their time and for
any other pocket expenses incurred.
What
if John has no siblings or friends, or they cannot visit
frequently? In many states there are organizations (some
are referred to as “PLAN,” which stands for
Planned Lifetime Assistance Network), which, for a fee,
will visit and monitor a person's placement and provide
a report, either to family who cannot visit regularly, or
to the trustee of the SNT. Small problems can be resolved
by the monitoring organization, larger problems might require
the intervention of the family, guardian, trustee and even
legal assistance. The organization can monitor everything
from the appropriateness of day and residential services,
to the frequency of attendance of religious and recreational
activities.
It
is important that the SNT contain language making it clear
that expenditures for such purposes are permitted. Trustees
should not have to guess as to whether such expenditures
are appropriate, or worse, trustees should not feel compelled
to deny such expenditures
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