Kental Fund for needed services

Jennifer Schumm DePaul is organizing this fundraiser.

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To all of you who have supported Kental in the past, we are beyond grateful for the ability to keep him living at home with us. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! First a little introduction. My name is Jenny and my husband is Mike, Kental is our adopted son, he has two teenage sisters and a community who LOVES him. We live in New Jersey. You can see above in the slideshow some family photos of all of us, so you know who you're helping!

Our story began the day we became foster parents for Kental when he was one. He is now a thirteen-year-old boy. From one to three years old Kental was slower to speak , but the agency attributed that to fetal alcohol syndrome. When Kental was 3, I
was notified that he was behind on his vaccines, and that the state would send someone to our house to pick him up and take him for his vaccines. I stated that I was against this, but because he was a foster child I could not stop them. They gave him all his vaccines in one visit, within a few months he severely regressed in all areas. He was no longer able to speak or communicate and would tantrum most of the day and night. He could not sleep, was no longer able to hold a utensil or cup, could not kiss or use a straw, could not dress, bath or feed himself, and he had no concept of danger.

HERE IS KENTAL BEFORE THE VACCINES, when I told his story at a conference.

At that point we were told that Kental was considered non adoptable so he would be placed in a group home. We loved him and did not want that to happen. so we adopted Kental into our family. A year later, when he was 4 1/2 his abilities and behaviors declined even more. We took him to a hospital in Maryland that had a well known Nero/Behavioral program. Kental remained at the hospital for six months. I went with him and stayed in the Ronald McDonald house. After a myriad of tests, the diagnosis was Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, a rare condition that is marked by a late onset of developmental delays in language, social function and motor skills. Since then, Autism has been the diagnosis most used.

It is our goal as a family to take care of Kental in our home. After we returned from the hospital he received in home support services and therapy for 52 hours per week plus 344 flex hours to be used when Kental had no school. Kental is nonverbal, needs close supervision 24/7, is incontinent, requires constant redirection and consistency, he often requires 2 to 1 supports and hand over hand assistance in most areas. He is unable to dress, bath or eat without full assistance. These hours have been in place for 6 years. And our family was managing.

In 2015 there was a significant reduction in services by the state of New Jersey who decided to move Kental, and other kids with severe needs, from the department of developmental disabilities (DDD) who had funded his hours, to (DCF) a department that supports children with emotional disabilities and autistic kids who can benefit from ABA therapy. This classification only allows 12 hours per week of in home care. The state's plan was to begin with 37 hours and then over a few months time reduce those hours to 12 hours per week. In our hearing, the state, explained how they planned to reduce our hours until we were down to 12 per week saying this,

"The titration process was supposed to be gradual and allow for the child to continue to receive the supports that he was receiving while allowing the family to adapt to the gradual loss of those supports."

There is NO PLAN by the state of New Jersey to give us more than 12 hours per week! A local news channel did a segment on our case which you can watch below. In this new DCF plan, the State of New Jersey is dangerously neglecting children with developmental disabilities who need one on one assistance at all times, not just Kental, but they've taken the same action with ALL the other children they moved from DDD, stripping all of the children's support funding that was in place and replacing it with 12 hours a week regardless of need. If you are one of those families who have been stripped of hours, please contact me so we can work together.

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/on-air/as-seen-on/NJ-Mom-Fighting-to-Keep-Son_New-York-482113512.html

We went to court to appeal this decision but lost the case. The State of New Jersey claimed the funding was no longer available. The judge had no knowledge or background in disability rights nor did he understand what the New Jersey agencies (DDD or DCF) did or the children they served. Based on testimony from the the Department of Children and Families (DCF) who claimed that Kental did not need more than 12 hours per week support, the judge ruled that if the state didn’t have the money as DCF claimed, then the court could not order the state to fund the hours even though that support had been in place for six years. We are currently appealing the judgement on the grounds that the State of New Jersey would be required to pay for Kental to be institutionalized, which would cost the state more than us caring for him at home.  All we are asking is for the state to give us back the that funding they took away so we can care for Kental at home.

In the meantime, and since this began, we’ve been trying our best to keep in place the services that the State of New Jersey took from Kental. We are using a trust fund we set up for Kental with money received from a hospital settlement. During the six months that he was in the hospital in Maryland, he was supposed to have 2 caregivers 24/7. One day they were short staffed and he only had one. That employee opened the door, and kental put his hand in the door. She slammed the door by accident and his finger was severed. The proceeds from that settlement to Kental were 60k, which we have been using to pay his support staff since the State's reduction in hours. We are down to the last 15k.

You can view many videos of Kental on his facebook page and youtube channel with links below. Please take a moment to look at the videos of Kental, and imagine the insanity of the DCF testimony, and the Judge in his ruling, that Kental, who cannot do anything on his own; he cannot feed himself, go to the bathroom, shower, or talk--is in Rosemary's testimony, a moderate case that only requires 12 hours a week support. Please also remember that the State did this to 30 other children with similar needs.

FACEBOOK http://www.facebook.com/kental123
YouTube Channel  https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kental+de+paul

The cost for In Home Supports and services is on average $150,000 per year. We have no idea how long the appeal process will take.

Kental is an amazing boy who brings joy to all who know him and has great purpose. He is well known and loved by his community and family. It is crucial that appropriate services are in place so Kental can thrive and our family can function.

PLEASE help me get the word out by SHARING MY LINK on your facebook timeline (the option to do that is under Kental's picture).

Our family's goal is to give back to the community. We have been foster parents to other at risk children. Our life purpose as a family is Project Kind which we started in 2014 . We deliver hope, love, encouragement, needed items and support to individuals experiencing homelessness in Newark and surrounding areas.

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/on-air/as-seen-on/Community-Pitches-In-to-Help-Charitable-NJ-Family_New-York-481793981.html

Watch PROJECT KIND videos with people from our outreach community
https://www.facebook.com/loveinaction123

Any little bit will help Kental. Again, you can't imagine how much your love and support means to us.

Jenny, Paul, Kental, Lilli and Annabella De Paul