Evelyn Yamine
The Daily Telegraph
November 23, 2012 12:00AM
ALL Grant Lee wants is a place to call home but a huge waiting list for disabled housing has left him in hospital - where he has already spent almost four years.
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Grant suffered a traumatic brain injury when he was hit by a car aged 15. He is in a wheelchair and needs care for the rest of his life.
Grant, who turned 19 earlier this month, has been at Liverpool Hospital Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit since June 30, 2009. He has been ready to move to a group accommodation home for at least seven months but there are no openings for supported accommodation through the Ageing, Disability and Home Care department. And he is not the only one waiting.
The latest waiting list figures date back to March 30 this year, when 851 people "with an immediate need" were waiting for supported accommodation. Only 308 supported accommodation places were delivered during 2011-12 - with a total of 8300 of these places statewide.
Grant said although hospital staff had been good to him, he was ready to move on, meet new people and have a place to call his own.
The teenager has limited family support and was a ward of the state when the accident occurred in Canberra in March 2009. His father still keeps in contact but is not equipped to look after him and his mother has not made contact with him in two years.
Grant is fully dependent on carers for mobility and has limited communication.
Brain Injury Association of NSW CEO Rachel Merton said it was a "terrible situation" which was not uncommon because of the government's "ad hoc or patchwork" approach to disability services.
"He's been ready for discharge for some time and essentially is on the waiting list to find appropriate accommodation," Ms Merton said.
"I think Grant's situation is a good example of the crisis in finding appropriate accommodation for people with disabilities in NSW."
Ms Merton said there was a waiting lists backlog, with even those classed as being in need of urgent care having to wait for 12 months or more.
Disability Services Minister Andrew Constance admitted the system was "already stretched" but instructed his department to address Grant's situation "urgently".
"Unfortunately it highlights the fact the state disability system is in crisis. While we're investing over $2 billion in growth funding for disability support, we are experiencing growth in demand for services of up to 10 per cent. It's why we desperately need a National Disability Insurance Scheme," he said.
