A frustrated south Okanagan father is speaking publicly about his plight in hopes of finding a solution to what he calls an unfair and difficult ultimatum.
Kaleden resident and father of three, Brody Bailey, says he’s faced with the option of either quitting his job or giving up his youngest son, Oden Bailey, to foster care.
Oden has special needs; he’s blind, uses a wheelchair and is developmentally delayed.
Taking care of him is a full-time job, one Brody has been struggling to do on his own since his wife passed away in June.
His wife, Amy Bailey, lost a four-year battle with cancer.
“I don’t think I’ve fully dealt with my wife’s passing,” Brody said.
That’s because now Brody is fighting to prevent the loss of his son.
Until a few months before her passing, Amy was still healthy enough to help take care of Oden.
When she became very ill, Brody reached out to the Ministry of Children and Family Development for help.
Brody said he asked for assistance paying for a live-in caregiver, which would be the easiest option since he works on-call.
However, their social worker told them the ministry doesn’t fund such care.
“We’ve suffered enough loss already and I don’t want him to have to go anywhere. He should be at home with his family and that should be what the government should be trying to do,” Brody said.
The ministry has been providing monthly funding for respite care.
The ministry’s executive director of service for the Okanagan, Barry Fulton, told Global News they’re working hard to do all they can for the Bailey family.
“Given we’ve got 30,000 kids and youth in B.C. accessing our services, we can’t meet everyone’s needs fully but we often sit down with the family and see what we can do and what they can get from their employer and what other benefits they might have,” Fulton said during a phone interview.
Brody has had temporary help from family members to take care of Oden but he fears that unless he quits his job to provide full-time care himself, he may have to give up his son to foster care.
“It would turn his world upside down as well as mine,” Brody said.
Fulton said the ministry’s staff will continue working with the Bailey family to try and find a way to keep Oden at home while meeting all of his care needs.