Editorial: Care parents need to be looked after

My cousin has opened her heart to a very special little girl.

What makes my cousin exceptional is that she has committed to a lifetime of caring for a girl who, at 12 years old, is still in nappies and has the mental capacity of a 2-year-old - even though the little girl is actually someone else's child.

My cousin is unable to adopt the little girl, as is often the case these days with foster family scenarios, but she has been told she can expect to be the child's life-long guardian.

She told me yesterday that she loved the little girl and, even though it was now apparent she would be caring for her until one of them died, she would not walk away from the relationship.

"It's too late now, because I can't give her back. She's mine now. If we're still changing her nappies when we're 70, so be it."

My cousin, who as a foster mother took the girl into her care as a short-term emergency measure when the child was a baby, is paid "board" by the Government. It's not payment for the service she provides. If it were, it would equate to about $1.60 an hour.

"I can't work because I have to look after her for nothing."

It is wholly appropriate that my cousin's gesture, of giving this girl a loving home and caring for her as though she were her own, is recognised with a small board payment which helps their household absorb the cost of a special needs child. But she isn't paid as a carer.

A landmark Court of Appeal decision has opened the way for family carers to be paid after a long-standing battle between parents of special needs children and the Government.

The Court of Appeal decision followed a Human Rights Review Tribunal ruling that the Ministry of Health's policy to pay carers only if they were not related to the patient was discriminatory.

How can any parent not empathise with the parents of special needs children who, usually with absolute selflessness and willingness, give up their careers and sometimes their dreams to lovingly care full time and long-term for their children?

Yesterday, Tauranga hosted the annual Special Olympic Secondary Schools Football Tournament.

Numerous adults were there supporting young people with special needs and among the adults there would have been some hardworking full time paid carers who got to go home to (presumably) quiet and peaceful lives after work. Also present were unpaid parent carers who would continue to work around the clock to care for their children.

It is not fair that a parent should be less valued if they make the choice to step up to the challenging task of caring for their special needs child full time. Does this seriously just come down to money?

Is this seriously where we should be cutting costs? As the courts and public opinion have indicated, the Government's stance on this issue is unfair. We must pay these parents.