Tampa family travels to Washington, D.C. to lobby for children’s behavioral healthcare

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Alisha Harper gave birth to her son Chase seven years ago, self-admittedly unprepared for what would come over those years.

Chase was born with Down syndrome and nine heart defects. After they were corrected, he was diagnosed with leukemia at four years old and went through two-and-a-half years of chemotherapy.

On Wednesday, the Harper family and Chase flew out of Tampa International Airport, Washington, D.C.-bound.

“I just hope to share our story,” Harper said. “Have Congress hear how important it is for parents and families to have that support in the hospital.”

The end goal of the Harper’s trip is to get legislation passed to increase access to behavioral health care.

“We get to take what we’ve been through and really show Congress and talk to legislators and really share with them,” Harper said. “This is what we’ve been through as a family, this is where we are now and this is all of the things that we want to see happen.”

His family is traveling to Capitol Hill as part of the Children’s Hospital Association’s annual Family Advocacy Day. The trip includes meetings with U.S. Representatives Gus Bilirakis, Vern Buchanan, Kathy Castor, Laurel Lee and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, and meetings with staff from the office of Reps. Anna Paulina Luna, Scott Franklin and U.S. Senator Rick Scott.

“Being in St. Joe’s for that amount of time,” Harper explained. “I got involved with a lot of different volunteer efforts and wanting to do more for kids who have medical complexities and are going through cancer treatment.”

Chase spent about 300 days in St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital.

“While at St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital, we are fortunate to have a licensed clinical social worker on staff,” said Jason Rodriguez. “We want to make sure that all kids have access to similar resources.”

Jason Rodriguez is the Director of Government Relations for BayCare Health System and is traveling to D.C. with the Harpers to help lobby Congress.

“It will allow for more support for early intervention, more resources,” Rodriguez said. “So kids can come in and get help before the last step.”

The Harper family plans on being in D.C. through next week and will have their Capitol Hill meetings in the coming days.