Wexton Demonstrates Compassion and Mastery of Facts During Forum on Disabilities
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - August 22, 2022
CONTACT: Lissa Savaglio - chair@loudoundemocrats.org
Leesburg, VA – During a forum on intellectual and developmental disabilities Monday evening, Rep. Jennifer Wexton, representing the 10th Congressional District of Virginia, once again demonstrated why her compassion, knowledge and intellect justify our faith in her and our commitment to return her to Congress this fall.
Her family’s experience with a disabled child informs her personally and professionally.
“I have a cousin who has a disability and I saw firsthand how it impacted her (immediate) family, how, making sure that she got the care and services that she needed really impacted everybody in the family every single day,” Wexton told the forum held by The ARC of Northern Virginia and the Autism Society of Northern Virginia.
“It doesn't stop with the parents of that child. It takes over generations. My cousin knows that she's going to have to take care of her someday when her parents are no longer able to. So, I have a great deal of respect for everything that you go through,” she told those listening to the Webcast.
“For me, it’s about respect,” she said. “More than just paying lip service to these issues.”
For her, respect meant earlier in her career serving as a prosecutor and a member of the Community Services Board in Loudoun County, an advocate for abused and neglected kids, and a special justice in mental commitment hearings, during which she came to understand that kids with intellectual and developmental disabilities issues end up in the criminal justice system at a far greater rate than their numbers in the population.
Now, as a member of Congress she has supported legislation to address this disparity.
In a web of complex issues surrounding intellectual and developmental disabilities, Wexton was laser focused on key elements: The need to increase the minimum wage for home health care workers to at least $15 per hour and giving them paid medical leave; increasing Supplemental Security Income (SSI) asset limits for disabled persons that have been frozen since 1989; increasing the current $30 per month limit on “personal needs” for nursing home residents receiving Medicaid; and providing service that enable people to “age in place,” avoiding the high-price institutional “homes” that cost taxpayers so much and deny people the dignity they deserve.
“This is … a big priority to make these investments. And this is something that we congressional Democrats have been trying to do for a long time,” she said.
“Tonight provided further evidence of why we are so proud to stand beside Jennifer Wexton for re-election,” said Lissa Savaglio, Chair of the Loudoun County Democrats.
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