Broward non-profit created program to give caregivers of special needs children a break
FORT LAUDERDALE - Taking care of a special needs child can sometimes be a round-the-clock job. A nonprofit in Broward County created a program to give parents and caregivers a break. It's so popular that they are expanding.
Silvana Armentano said during pregnancy, she just knew.
"I realized that he was doing some different kicks in my womb," Armentano said, "and then I realized that that was repetitive behavior, he was moving his hands back and forth."
At one year old, doctors diagnosed her son, David, with autism. Everything from eating to potty training to learning how to handle his aggressive behavior required Armentano to give up her career as an artist to be her son's full-time caregiver.
"I have the services to hire a person to take care of him," she said. "No one wanted to keep the job because due to the severe aggressions that he was having at that time."
The exhaustion took over.
"In the moment that I collapsed on the floor, my son picked me up from the floor, I asked him, he's nonverbal, so he saw me on the floor, and he was very worried," she said. "He picked me up from the floor and gave me the phone. So he bring me my phone to call 911. So he saved my life."
Doctors recommended she seek help at Jewish Adoption and Family Care Options (JAFCO).
"That weekend, for the first time in a long, long years, I had one day to take a nap," she said.
JAFCO Executive Director Justin Kohlhagen said the respite home gives parents that peace of mind to take care of themselves knowing their kids are in good hands.
"We provide really intensive training," he said. "We have on staff social workers, psychologists BCBAS, board certified behavior analysts, teachers, speech, language pathologist, so really the whole gamut of services that children would need," he said.
In fact, Armentano said David's behavior has improved since he started staying one night a week at JAFCO.
"I see growing independence skills, so he's able to cook a snack or either to toast a bread or a piece of bread," she said.
The homes are designed to be safe and comforting, and also teach the children new life skills.
"We're at capacity, parents have been looking over the construction fence for about two years now," Kohlhagen said. "They're waiting eagerly."
Two new homes are officially complete, ready to start helping more families in the community, a thousand kids a year.
"It's life-saving being here for me, having my back not only my life, also the life of my child because he improved in all such a ways," Armentano said.
If you are a parent of a child with special needs and you feel like you could benefit from this new program, it's as simple as giving JAFCO a call at (954) 315-7033.
They said they could probably see you that very same day.
