When Kyran Battersby was told that Catoosa’s Trans-Aid program would no longer bus his adult son with mental disabilities to the AIM Center in downtown Chattanooga, he was confused. His son had been taken to the AIM Center three times a week for almost 25 years, he said.
However, recently hired Trans-Aid Director Jason Warren said the county has been violating its own policies regarding Trans-Aid for years, and it’s his job to put a stop to that.
“There were some odd places we were taking people to that were outside of what our policy dictates,” said Warren.
The policy, in place for decades, states that county residents can be taken via transit service to Erlanger, Parkridge or Memorial hospitals in downtown Chattanooga for medical appointments only. Other non-medical trips are allowed, but are required to stay within Catoosa.
All trips through the program are free of charge for the rider.
When Warren came on board as the new director several months ago, he was tasked by the county’s Board of Commissioners with getting familiar with the program’s policies, and realized Trans-Aid was also taking people to the YMCA near Hamilton Place mall as well as other places outside of what the program allows.
Warren said he has tried to create alternative accommodations for Catoosa residents who rely on Trans-Aid, such as delivering residents to the county line and then coordinating with CARTA, which provides bus service around the Chattanooga core.
Those workarounds aren’t sufficient for the service Battersby has come to rely on, though.
“I called the AIM Center and talked out the situation with them, and they thought it would be a very bad idea. They know his condition and thought it would be bad for his safety,” Battersby said, explaining that his son would be left on his own until CARTA could pick him up.
Battersby described his son as paranoid schizophrenic, and the trips with the Trans-Aid program have been invaluable to his therapy, he said.
Both Warren and County Manager Jim Walker said they’re sympathetic to Battersby’s situation, but their intent is to follow the letter of the law.
“All I’m trying to do is read and follow the policy we have,” said Warren. “I’ve had other people call and ask, ‘Can we go here?’ and it’s a dentist in Walker County. I can’t tell people we don’t go there, but then allow other exceptions.”
Walker agreed, and said the policy is very clear.
Battersby believes it isn’t a matter of policy, but of “dollars and cents.”
Walker stressed that, for him, it is about following the policy, but figured the county has paid around $10,000 in direct and indirect costs to transport Battersby’s son to the AIM Center each year, including gas, insurance and the driver’s salary specific to those thrice-a-week trips.
These costs, Walker said, would be fine if they were in compliance with county policy, but they aren’t.
Battersby is hoping his son’s trips will be grandfathered into the Trans-Aid program, but more than that, he said he hopes officials change the policy to open the program up to more treatments outside of official doctor’s visits.
“I think it’s every bit as important as an appointment to have someone’s foot looked at in a hospital,” he said of his son’s treatment, which he said has become so routine for his son, that it would be a detriment to change any part of that.
Warren said the county will continue transporting Battersby’s son to the AIM Center three times a week until accommodations have been made, but beyond that, any changes to the policy are a matter for the Board of Commissioners.
Warren said possible changes to the policy could include grandfathering in certain users of the program, extending the travel to non-hospital visits in Walker and Hamilton counties or adding a fee for trips outside of Catoosa.
While there hasn’t been any formal discussion, Warren said he expected the commissioners to talk about the issue soon.
In the meantime, “All I’m trying to do is read and follow the policy that was in place when I got here,” he said.