By Jessica Vander Velde, Times Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
TAMPA — Christa Kelley has two more weeks to figure out her adopted daughter's future.
Medicaid has extended its funding of the girl's in-patient psychiatric care through Dec. 14.
In the meantime, Kelley is working with the state Department of Children and Families and several local child welfare agencies to figure out where the 13-year-old girl will go next.
Kelley took in the young relative when the child's mother gave up custody in 2006. She later adopted her. The girl has lived in and received psychiatric help at the Tampa Bay Academy for the past six months — but with Medicaid funding for that expiring, Kelley worried what would become of her daughter now.
She was hopeful Tuesday morning that an Orlando treatment center would accept the $513 she gets each month from the state as an adoption subsidy.
But on an afternoon conference call, she found out the center wants to review the girl's clinical file to determine if her condition necessitates the kind of care it would provide, Kelley said.
"They seem to think they should have some kind of response Wednesday morning," she said.
She said the DCF has contacted every possible treatment center in the state, and two others look promising.
She's exhausted, she said, but determined to remain hopeful.
"Right now, that's all I've got," she said. "I want my daughter to get well."
Hillsborough Kids Inc. CEO Jeff Rainey said his staff has been working with Kelley because they don't want to see the adoption break down.
"We've been working diligently," he said. "We're doing the best we can."
Medicaid has a different take.
James H. McFaddin, the chief of staff for the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, which oversees Medicaid, said the agency believes the girl has made "great strides" and will be ready for discharge Saturday, a date that the Tampa Bay Academy had initially set.
He spoke to a reporter Tuesday after getting Kelley's permission and said the girl's therapy team has recommended a step down to group care. He said that Medicaid would pay $185 a day for therapy but isn't allowed by law to pay the room and board costs.
Kelley doesn't agree that her adopted daughter is ready to be discharged.
"I don't want to turn my back on her — that's the last thing I want to do," she said. "But I can't put the lives of my family at risk."
Jessica Vander Velde can be reached at jvandervelde@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3433.