The Coalition

The Coalition for Medically Fragile Children (Coalition) was founded in the fall of 2004 by parents, children’s advocates, children’s hospitals, home health providers, and others around New York State dedicated to ensuring that medically fragile children can leave hospitals and institutions and be cared for in their homes when it is medically permissible and their families’ preference.  The Coalition exists to ensure that New York’s medically fragile children are supported by comprehensive policies, accessible programs, and a strong long-term,care-delivery system to meet their wide-ranging needs.  As medical advances allow these children to receive continuous care in their homes, the Coalition works to ensure that public programs and State policies reduce and eventually eliminate barriers to such care.  The challenge the Coalition faced is that while the population of children needing regularly scheduled, personal and skilled home care provided by a practical or registered nurse for extended periods of up to 8-16 hours a day is growing, resources were inadequate.  That is why the Coalition and Manatt’s combined efforts to educate and influence State lawmakers about this budget priority was so important, and why the increase and expansion of benefits a lifeline for so many children and their families.