The High Cost
of Helping Your Child
By Peg Brody

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Additional Assistance
If the Deeming Waiver and services offered through your public school system aren’t attractive options to pay for therapy, other programs can help.

The Scottish Rite and Egleston campuses of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) offer rehabilitative programs for children and have social workers on staff. The Child Care Fund provides assistance for children who receive medical care and therapy through Scottish Rite. The fund is based on a sliding income scale with a limit of $62,500 annually, however there are some exceptions. Contact the hospital or satellite location for details.

At Egleston there are two options for assistance. If you have incurred a bill from Egleston, contact a customer service representative in patient accounts for information on how the hospital can help. If you have not yet used the services at Egleston but are preparing to do so, a financial counselor will help set up payment and assistance. Contact the hospital or satellite location for details.

If your child is younger than 3, Babies Can’t Wait (BCW) can help provide assistance. The service helps families navigate early intervention programs and provides links to resources. BCW has a statewide directory of information managed by Parent-to-Parent, Inc. of Georgia. The directory provides information about the BCW program located nearest to the child and family. To access the directory, call 1-800-229-2038 or (770) 451-5484 in Atlanta. The state BCW office number is (404) 657-2726 or 1-888-651-8224.

Probably the most important thing to remember when faced with the high cost of helping your child is not to panic. With research, you might just be able to find some financial relief for what can seem like an overwhelming price tag.

Scholarships and Loan Programs

Here are some of the resources available for scholarships and loans:

• The Center for Education Reform has information about scholarships for private schools. Visit www.edreform.com.
• Privateschool.about.com offers extensive information on private school funding, from loans to scholarships. www.privateschool.about.com
• The Children’s Scholarship Fund Program offers a scholarship via national lottery for low-income families in grades K-8. Contact the fund at 1-212-515-7100 or read more about it at www.scholarshipfund.org.
• AchieverLoan offers loan programs to help parents of kindergartners through post-graduate students. Applicants receive a quick decision when applying on line. Contact the program at 1-800-KEY-LAND or through its Web site at www.key.com/educate/achieverloan.
• PrepGATE offers loans to parents of children enrolled at an eligible prepGATE school. Refer to www.prepgate.com or call 1-888-353-GATE for more information.
• TERI Educational Loan claims to be the largest nonprofit guarantor of private education loans. Contact TERI at 1-800-837-4326 or www.teri.org.
• SLM Financial’s K-12 Family Education Loan. SLM Financial, a Sallie Mae company, created this loan program to help families send their children to private primary and secondary schools. Contact the program at 1-888-272-45543 or www.slmfinancial.com.
• CitiAssist K-12 Loan. Citibank offers loans of up to $15,000 per academic year with up to 10 years to repay the loan. Refer to http://studentloan.citibank.com/slcsite/fr_k12.htm or call 1-800-723-2777 for more information.
• EstudentLoan.com allows parents to compare student loan programs, learn about financial aid, search for scholarships and apply online for any of these programs. www.estudentloan.com
• Education One K12 Loan. This unsecured, credit-based program allows parents to borrow $1,500 to $30,000 annually. The loan can be used for tuition, uniforms, room and board, books, fees and supplies. For more information, visit www.educationone.com or call 1-877-663-3906.

Peg Brody is a freelance writer who earned a Bachelor of Science in journalism from Northern Illinois University. She has more than 25 years of writing experience.

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