The Disabled Persons Action Organization's first contract with Fort Drum will provide the post's families with additional services for people who are developmentally disabled.
Carol A. Smith, DPAO operations director, said the contract provides any type of respite service to active-duty soldiers at Fort Drum.
The contract, which expires Sept. 30, allows the Watertown agency to seek up to $25 per hour for developmentally disabled people who have behavior or medical issues. The contract will cover up to $40,000 in expenses.
Only 12 Fort Drum families use the contract services. DPAO Executive Director Joseph L. Rich said the agency can accommodate more people.
"This is an enhanced version of what we do," he said. "This provides additional services to make sure family members with developmental disabilities were taken care of while parents are on active duty."
Soldiers who have a family member enrolled in the post's Exceptional Family Member program are eligible to seek DPAO's respite services.
Sharon W. Chaple, the program's manager, said families with special-needs children can seek respite care through the contract regardless of whether a spouse is deployed.
"The program's here, and the contract's here," she said. "We'd love for families to contact us so they can use it."
Once a Fort Drum family becomes aware of the contract work, Mrs. Smith said, the child or other disabled person in the family can start receiving DPAO's services long before the developmental disability or Medicaid eligibility status is approved. That process, she said, often can take up to six months.
Mr. Rich said DPAO always has supported Fort Drum and is happy to offer the agency's services to the 10th Mountain Division soldiers' families.
"This gives the moms or dads a chance to go to the doctor's, get groceries, spend time with other children, and very rarely is there a situation where it doesn't work out," he said. "We're going to search out every avenue possible to help them. Hopefully by doing this, we'll attract more families that need assistance."
