THE parents of an autistic man who lived in a Wantirna residential facility are facing an uphill battle with the Department of Human Services.
In a submission to a parliamentary inquiry about supported accommodation, Ellen and Mark Modra have spoken out about the challenges they face in securing funding for the support he needs.
Luke Modra, 20, lives in a community residential unit run by Disability Accommodation Services in Mt Evelyn. He suffers from high levels of anxiety and stress that can lead to violent outbursts.
When he previously lived at a Wantirna community residential unit, where his parents say staff did not have a "suitable skill set" to deal with his behaviours, they bought the house next door to their Mt Waverley home,
planning to convert it into supported accommodation for Luke.
The move followed a 2005 visit to a conference in Brisbane where they met other people with Luke's condition living independently.
Mr Modra said the DHS spent at least $400,000 each year to care for Luke at the Mt Evelyn CRU.
He estimated it would cost the department about $250,000 to provide the same level of care - including one or two carers, special equipment, a modified van, outings and day programs - to support him at the house next door.
However, the DHS would offer only $185,000 a year.
Mrs Modra said Luke was an engaging and handsome young man with a pleasant personality. He had lived with the family until he was 15 and moved at that time to the Wantirna CRU for "emergency respite".
His parents were reluctant to move Luke, but said caring for him was a 24-hour job and they had four other children to care for, on top of their jobs and other responsibilities.
One evening, Luke was startled by his reflection in a window in his CRU bedroom door and broke it. Mrs Modra said the window, which was not safety glass, was boarded up with chipboard.
The bedroom's windows were also broken and replaced with chipboard, with only two small glass panels re-installed to let light in, making his room more like a "prison cell".
Two years ago, Luke was moved to the Mt Evelyn CRU, where
due to his behavioural outbursts, he has no contact with other residents and limited contact with staff and is not allowed to leave a modified van when taken on outings, his parents said.
They estimate he has not been allowed to leave the van on trips for the past two years, and say an outing to the beach consisted of Luke sitting in the van in a car park.
He even had to use a specially constructed "cage" to walk from the van to the unit's front door.
Centre for Developmental Disability Health Victoria education director DrJane Tracy said people with a disability could "blossom" in the right circumstances, but they faced problems such as stress, mental illness, physical harm to self or others and isolation.
In response to detailed questions, a DHS spokesman could not comment on submissions made to the inquiry, but said the department was working closely with the Modras to provide support to their son.
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