Disability funding

Bill would raise age for pursuing payments through 25 for children with impairments

Bill would raise age for payments through 25 for kids with impairments.

Assembly members Mary Beth Walsh and Carrie Woerner are leading a bipartisan push to pass legislation that would extend the time period for parents of children with intellectual disabilities to pursue child-support payments.

Proponents of the plan, which would extend child support through age 25, say the costs of raising a child with developmental disabilities doesn’t dissipate when they turn 21. The loss of through support payments can create a challenge for divorced custodial parents who suddenly stop receiving the assistance.

The provision would apply in cases in which the children are afflicted with conditions such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism spectrum disorder and other neurological impairments.

Walsh, whose eldest son is on the autism spectrum, introduced the proposal three years ago based on her work in Family Court and the insights she has gleaned from the autism community.

“I’ve just seen how having this line in the sand where you’ve reached the age of majority and it’s not enough of a landing pad,” Walsh said. “They need more time.”

That point was hammered home for her by Eileen Rileyhall, a childhood friend, who is raising a daughter on the spectrum and provided Walsh with research on the 40 other states where support payments can be required past the age of 21.

Riley-hall said that most children aren’t moving out of the home when they turn 21, and she noted that the transition can be even more difficult when there is a developmental disability requiring access to supportive housing and full-time care.

It can become nearly impossible, she said, to provide the level of services a disabled child needs on a single paycheck and government support programs.

There is also a disproportionately high rate of divorce among parents who are raising children with a disability.

“I know a lot of parents who would benefit from this,” Rileyhall said.

Because Walsh, a Ballston Republican, is in the Assembly minority, the legislation “wasn’t going to go anywhere” with her name on it. She made a pitch in the bipartisan legislative women’s caucus and Woerner, a Round Lake Democrat, came on board as the primary sponsor this year.

“It’s not a partisan issue,” Walsh said. “I need a majority member to carry my bill, and I appreciate that Carrie felt the idea could have merit regardless of where it came from.”

The pair were lobbying their colleagues on the floor of the Assembly chamber this week, and Walsh said they’ve gotten a “really great reaction.” She hopes it can pass in April during Autism Awareness Month.

“I don’t know anybody who would be opposed to it,” Walsh added.