Ms. Garrett-Baird, I appreciate what you're saying. I do, but the truth of the matter is that there isn't an equal access to this caregiver benefit for those who have more mental challenges than physical ones. The truth of the matter is that many of them cannot function on a day-to-day basis. They can put their pants on. They can have a shower on their own, but they need assistance to get to that point, or they cascade down so badly in response to something that they literally can't function at all. It's up and down. It's constant.
I would like to hear that there is a realization that in circumstances where an individual has physical disabilities, possibly.... I would imagine that most of them have some, but there is not a true focus on dealing with the mental health issues that caregivers have to deal with in their spouses and, as a result, that they often suffer too, as do the children. This benefit has been challenged many times.
Can you not indicate that truly we need to take a far better look at how we implement this particular program? When you say “most disabled”, how do you define that?