Topeka ? Parents and guardians pleaded Wednesday with lawmakers to fund facilities that provide services that they say are necessary to keep their children alive.

“I know there is a creative way to find the money to take care of the most vulnerable,” said Joan Kelley, of Olathe.

Kelley’s grandson Aidan, 15, who has severe autism, currently resides at Lakemary Center, a mental health treatment facility in Paola.

Because of a recent crackdown by federal officials on Medicaid funding, parents and guardians of children with severe developmental disabilities have been told they may have to be moved to other settings because the children have been there longer than the allowed time limit.

Rep. Bob Bethell, R-Alden, chairs a subcommittee looking into the problem.

Bethell said that the short-term solution is for the state to make up the funding. That will cost about $3 million per year, officials have said.

“We do have kids who need the kind of structure that an institutional setting provides,” Bethell said. “We aren’t doing any favors to anyone by eliminating the one thing these kids need, and that is stability.”

Several parents appeared before the board, saying that facilities like Lakemary gave them hope, and there was no way their children could be treated for 140 days or 180 days, the current limits, and then placed in a foster home through the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services. They said their children have the kind of disabilities that require round-the-clock supervision to prevent injuries to themselves or others.

“We have been told to expect a crisis to unfold as SRS feels the pressure of current events and that our grandson might be discharged from Lakemary,” Kelley said. “Where will he go?”

State officials have insisted they don’t want to put children in inappropriate placements, and have set up a review and appeals process to prevent children from being removed from treatment facilities simply because of budget problems.