Jfer

North Carolina is denying care to disabled children and calling it “policy.” Under the North Carolina Medicaid CAP/C waiver, families are being capped at 20–40 hours, pushed out of paid caregiving, and told to accept less care. Some are even being told: “You should be doing this for free anyway.” This violates federal standards under 42 CFR §441.301, EPSDT, and the Olmstead v. L.C. requirement for care in the least restrictive setting. This isn’t policy. It’s rationing at the expense of medically complex children. Stop the rhetoric that that devalues medically necessary care as “just parenting”.

People love to talk about “integration” as if simply placing disabled children in the same room automatically means inclusion. My medically complex/disabled daughter sat in classrooms where she was still excluded socially and academically- ignored, placed in the back, with little meaningful effort made to help her participate or connect with peers. On paper, she was “integrated.” In reality, she was isolated in a room full of children. That is not inclusion. That is checking a box. She had help from one aide that was shared between 2 entire classrooms. The school nurse was only physically present 2 days per week. That is the reality many families are talking about when we discuss staffing and support shortages. These are not “extra resources” or luxury services. These are medically fragile, developmentally disabled, and high-needs children who require consistent support to safely access an education.

@jennibu @jenteach13 Classroom ratios do matter, yes. Behavioral support? That's simply kids with no parental support, structure, or consequences. Special ed, at least in my state, in most cases get a one on one and intergraded into the classroom. They get far more resources than anyone.

You want to fix education? Let teachers remove kids who make it impossible for everyone else to learn.

@TheAdam027 Praying for strength, peace, and healing, and for the hands of the surgeons caring for you tomorrow. May you be surrounded by love, comfort, and mercy through it all.

BREAKING: my health condition quickly deteriorated today. I’m having life-saving surgery tomorrow. There is no expectation of the outcome. I am DNR. I love you all. -Adam

@HELLSBELLS828 Steam, butter, salt.

Is there some kind of secret way to cook vegetables that make them edible? I need to start eating healthier but I HATE vegetables!!

@dogwoodblooms We are years past our loss and I can tell you the profound hurt/rage/frustration you may feel now will fade with time. In your heart is where the memories and the land will live. They will never be able to take that from you.

I know there are many questions about how I lost my heritage property today. I've been on the road and am not in a great place right now, but I'll fill y'all in soon. I needed a reason to smile after court, so I went to Cataloochee and found one. ❤️

Calling legitimate concerns from families caring for profoundly disabled and medically fragile children ‘virtue signaling’ is exactly the kind of detached response people are tired of. Parents across NC aren’t discussing hypotheticals. They’re dealing with denials, reduced supports, caregiver shortages, impossible standards, and children at risk of losing the services that keep them safely at home. Dismissing that as ‘performative outrage’ doesn’t make you informed; it just shows how little you understand about what families are actually experiencing.

@jennibu @WhiteHouse The government is finally addressing actual fraud and all you do is virtue signal and complain. 🧿 Your performative outrage is exhausting.

The Trump administration has made it loud and clear to all states: if you commit fraud, you will lose medicaid funding.

@dogwoodblooms I'm so sorry. When it happened to my Mother, she mourned. She was even barred from going to see the house her father built with his hands or stepping foot on the land.

Evil won this round. Which makes me wonder: what are we doing in North Carolina? How can it be this easy to take something away from someone else? Why hasn’t the NCGA done more to protect those with an interest in generational land? We’ve got to do better.

I agree with what you are saying here. “Fundamental problems” don’t solve themselves in systems that are already understaffed, overcrowded, and stretched beyond capacity. Modern schools are dealing with severe behavioral needs, medically complex students, mental health crises, and massive academic gaps without enough support staff, nurses, intervention specialists, or realistic administrative backing. Funding alone isn’t the answer, but pretending schools can meet 2026 realities with 1990 resources isn’t an answer either.

@jennibu @jenteach13 Throwing money at a problem without solving its fundamental problems does literally nothing

Except it’s not hypothetical. A growing number of NC families with medically complex and disabled children are already seeing services reduced, parent caregiver hours denied, or eligibility standards tightened despite severe needs and documented caregiver shortages. There’s a difference between addressing actual fraud and creating policies so restrictive that vulnerable families lose the support keeping their children safely at home instead of institutions.

@jennibu @WhiteHouse Fraudsters fearmonger and will resist/complain because they get away. The process has been explained. Now we are enforcing the law and accountability and all you do is fearmonger on a hypothetical

And school districts and administrators do sometimes choose not to meaningfully honor those medical realities or follow their own district handbooks. I was actually told it was “likely” my child’s doctor was simply sympathetic and exaggerating our situation. Meanwhile, my medically complex child, with over a dozen diagnoses and a possible life-threatening condition under evaluation, was treated like a truancy problem instead of a child in medical crisis.

@macpherson_a @jenteach13 Those students have doctors excuses. Most chronically absences are excused. It's not uncommon for a student to come only two days a week.

You want to fix education? Stop making deadlines optional.

I think people hear “funding” and picture waste, decorations, or administrative bloat. That’s not what many of us are talking about. Modern classrooms are dealing with issues schools were never originally designed or staffed to handle- severe behavioral needs, trauma, medically complex children, overcrowding, mental health crises, and massive academic gaps. Updating education to meet modern realities requires properly trained staff, support systems, intervention resources, administrative leadership that is not out of touch with classroom realities, and teachers who aren’t being stretched beyond capacity. I also think we need to stop pretending one educational model works for every child. Some students thrive in traditional public schools, while others do better in smaller or specialized environments. I support giving families meaningful options and allowing funding to follow the child so students can access the setting where they have the best chance to succeed.

@jennibu @jenteach13 Better monitors, better operating systems, and better RAM doesn’t help a computer run better when there is no power cord. More funding, more support, and more interventions wont actually fix the problem. Removing the kid won’t fix that kid, but it will 100% help the rest.

I do have children, including a medically complex child with significant support needs, which is part of why I understand this issue is far more complicated than simply removing students. I’ve spent years advocating through the court system for one child’s basic civil rights and educational access, and I had to remove another child from school entirely due to extreme bullying and administrative inaction. I’m very familiar with the failings within the system. Parenting and culture absolutely matter. But so do classroom ratios, behavioral support, intervention staff, special education resources, and whether teachers are being asked to manage increasingly complex needs without adequate support. Teacher preparation programs are also lagging behind the realities educators face in modern classrooms.

@jennibu @jenteach13 I am responding to you. Funding is not the issue. @jenteach13 is absolutely correct.

@DBar72389672730 @jenteach13 Who are you referring to? There are two of us you have tagged. I will respond if it is directed to me. Just wanted to clarify.

@jennibu @jenteach13 You must not have kids. Lack of support/poor parenting is absolutely the issue. The US spends more than nearly every other country per student than any other country. Its the culture and kids, not the funding.

Thank you for all the prayers, y’all! And my apologies for the radio silence. I’ve been getting in touch with my inner Elle Woods for the last two days - and now I’m heading home to the mountains. It’s time for war. Keep the prayers coming. I’ll give an update tomorrow. ❤️

It’s not about blindly throwing money at problems. In many cases, that’s exactly what has happened while classrooms and staff still go without meaningful support. Meanwhile, superintendent contracts and administrative bonuses keep growing. The real question is whether resources are actually reaching classrooms, teachers, support staff, and students who genuinely need help.

@jennibu @jenteach13 Ah, the mind numbed response of the useful idiots. More funding is always the answer huh?🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️

@JoanneMason11 🙏

Mr. Mason here, Joanne had a quick surgery overnight to fix some bleeding but had a much better day. She was able to read some of you wonderful prayers and well wishes, and wanted to me say "thank everyone for their kindness and prayers, it means so much." Thank you from me, too.

@john_paske56238 @MikeBales

@MikeBales Before we learned how to drink like adults.

Bartles & Jaymes Berry Wine Cooler.

@KCD050566 @foosiesdad @FBIDirectorKash @ChrisVanHollen No taxpayer money went into that.

@foosiesdad @FBIDirectorKash @ChrisVanHollen Now do Trumps ballroom.

Fact check @ChrisVanHollen ⬇️

@TarynA83 Ladies, I am telling you- it's YOUR baby. You do what you want. The other adults will need to handle their own big girl/ big boy feelings on their own if they don't like it. That's not your responsibility.

Ladies. I am telling you this right now. Your husband’s family matters when you have a baby. You can say they aren’t allowed in for delivery. You can ask for limited time visits. You can ask for your husband to entertain and introduce the baby if you want to stay in bed. BUT- asking his parents/grandparents to wait to meet them while you let your family in is cruel and selfish. EVEN IF they might annoy you, or his mom is an attention hog, your baby is just as much your husband’s. Your recovery needs matter, but alienating them is wrong.