A Florida Mom's Lonely Fight for Her Son

Bryan Pereira early in his life.

Tereza Pereira had cared for her woefully disabled son at home for most of his life. But she was in her 50s now, working two jobs to stay afloat, and state health administrators had repeatedly refused to pay for enough in-home nursing care to keep Bryan safe.
Pereira wanted her teenage son to live at a place called Baby House, a small group home for medically fragile children and young adults, with a long track record of treating children like Bryan as family. His care would have cost the state $300 per day there.
State health and disability administrators had a different plan: For $200 more each day, Bryan would live in a nursing home.