County's spending on Chaos Waterpark and Action City may be filling in a gap

EAU CLAIRE — Savannah Bertrand is the mother of two disabled children whose family takes advantage of the Chaos Waterpark and Action City annual passes provided by the Children's Long-Term Support (CLTS) program administered by Eau Claire County.
She said that especially since the closure of Prevea — which had been a part of the broader closure of HSHS Sacred Heart and St. Joseph's Hospitals — and the loss of access to occupational therapy which accepts Medicaid, access to the jumping park and the water park has become even more essential.
'As far as the Action City passes, it's hard to quantify how much they help,' Bertrand said. 'We have the ability to go to the jumping park. That really helps them burn off and regulate a little better.'
Bertrand said that she has two children with disabilities.
'They both have Fragile X syndrome and autism,' she said. 'Without an annual pass to these things, we probably wouldn't be going at all simply because it takes so long to build up their ability to actually participate in it. When we first started going, we could only go for like 15 to 20 minutes, and it's expensive. We couldn't afford to just keep taking them in order to build their tolerance up for being there.'
She said that her family utilizes the parks several times a week.
'We've been working on social skills and building that confidence,' Bertrand said. 'Being able to participate in the community like this is very helpful. They play with other kids now.'
She said that the park passes were chosen over the YMCA because it works better for her family.
'I'm not saying that the YMCA is a bad place, but it wouldn't — and it didn't — work for my family,' she said. 'The one time that I went to the YMCA, I wasn't able to help my disabled son get dressed for his swim lesson. He couldn't be in the locker room with me, and then he ran straight into the pool [in] his clothes. He was a bolter back then.'
Bertrand stressed that she wanted people to know that the park passes have 'nothing to do with the budget deficit. We've already paid taxes on this part of the money. This is an approved service by the state, and this is 100 percent state money.'
In reference to the $68,000 spent on annual passes between the months of January and April by the county, Bertrand said, 'I mean, $68,000 is a lot of money, and to somebody that doesn't understand exactly what the program is and what it can and can't cover, I understand why [County Board Supervisor Michele] Skinner asked about that.'
Nonetheless, Bertrand wants people to know how essential these services are to her family.
'It doesn't matter if they get rid of the passes at all,' she said. 'The only thing that's going to [do] is reduce services even more for a population that already doesn't have much as far as access to care, to services, to support.'
She said that there are a lot of great things CLTS can cover in theory, but there aren't always available providers.
'Speaking for myself but also the families that I've talked to about this, it's really hurtful that people are questioning some people with some of the only services they take,' she said. 'It's not like they're just giving handouts. It's a lot of work to even be enrolled in these programs. All the kids on the programs go through functional screens every year. Especially, given the thought of Medicaid cuts, taking away one of the few things that is successful with our kids is really disheartening.'

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