Emma's Law: Cranford Mother Advocates For Autistic Daughter

CRANFORD, NJ - "She does not have a voice so I am her voice."

That is what Jenn Love of Cranford says of her fight to increase the safety and security for her 17-year-old autistic daughter Emma's ride to school.

Emma attends The Children's Center of Monmouth County in Neptune and a change in the transportation provider has placed Love at odds with the company. Now, she is advocating for systemic changes to the busing policies for her daughter and children like her.

According to Love, the issue began when the school her daughter attends changed transportation providers.

"I contacted the new company and requested to meet and speak to the driver and aide before the first day of the route. I was told that was not possible. They disclosed to me that we were able to meet the bus driver and the aide the day of morning pick up. When they arrived, I asked for the bus driver and aide’s contact information," Love told Patch.

She was told that it was against their company policy to give out their contact information.

"That is absolutely absurd to me. I was told that if I had an issue, I need to discuss I had to go through the front office of the bus company," Love said. "The problem is that the office opens at 9 a.m. and my daughter is traveling at 7:30 a.m."

Indeed, Emma Love has been traveling that 38 miles at that time to Neptime for school since she was three years old. Jenn Love said Emma really responds well to water activities and this school offers her water therapy multiple times a week.

"I always say CCMO is like Disney World," she said. "It is really such a happy pace, from the teachers and therapists to the students, everyone is happy. It is a beautiful campus and offers state of the art facilities. She has thrived and advanced there."

That type of progress, Love said, is critical for Emma due to her challenges.

"Emma was diagnosed with autism when she was 18 months old. She was not achieving any of her milestones. When she was 12, she was diagnosed with epilepsy. After further testing, we discovered that she has a genetic disorder, a mitochondrial disorder that makes her who she is," Love said. "She is 100 percent non-verbal, she is not toilet trained and she needs 100 percent supervision."

Love said that her concerns are based in previous history, and are not conjecture. She said over the last 14 years she has tried to connect with those transporting her daughter because she wants Emma to be comfortable with who she is going to be traveling with every day.

"I thought it was important for us to meet so, that I can explain more about Emma to them. Also, I wanted my daughter to not feel scared or abandoned getting into a car with people she had never meet before," Love said. "Keep in mind, Emma is non-verbal. She does not always understand what is being told to her. As any mother would, I wanted to know Emma’s new bus driver and aid’s contact information. I also wanted them to provide me with their contact information. So, I know if anything were to happen they will be able to contact me for anything. I was told by the first company that they would not provide that information to me."

Part of the volatility comes from the way in which transportation contracts are awarded. When a student goes to an out of district school, transportation is paid for by the district and arranged through the Union County Education System system.

"The Union County Education System, Department of Transportation is an incredibly broken system. UCES puts the route out to a bid and the route goes to the lowest bidder. That is the first broken peg in this wheel in my opinion," Love said. "When someone knows they got a job because they were the lowest bid. They will do work equal to what they are getting paid for. Which means, not the best transportation company for my daughter."

Some companies complied with Love's request, while others did not and the results were disastrous. One company that would not provide that information sparked in incident Love will never forget.

"The company that won that bid was Barker Bus company. Once again I was not entitled to any contact information, which is disturbing. I was assured 'this is a good company, everything will be ok.' Two weeks into the route, the bus got 'lost' on the way to school and ended up in Camden," she said. " Five hours later, they were escorted back to school by police, all five 'non-verbal witnesses' on the bus, screaming and urine soaked."

Love said one of the things that disturbs her is how in 2019 buses are not equipped with surveillance cameras and GPS tracking. And that there isn't an open line of communication to parents.

"I do not think this is an unreasonable request, to be able to communicate with the people who are in charge to take care of my non-verbal special needs child. Typical children are able to communicate for themselves, my daughter does not have a voice so I have to be her voice," she said. "When you call an Uber, you get a text message with the resume and name as well as a photo of the driver. Should we not have at least that for the people we are entrusting our most vulnerable and precious children?"

This summer, after 12 years of stability in busing, the company lost the bid for the route for the summer.

"Once again I was told 'the new company is a good company, it will be ok.'" Love said. "I was never going to be faced with what happened 12 years ago again. So here we are with one week left of the summer session I am still driving her to and from school. The ironic part of it is that the district asked me to fill out a parental contract to drive her to school. The contract asked me to provide the very information that I was asking the bus company to give me that I was not entitled to. This system is broken and it needs to change."

And Love intends to make that change and has expanded her request beyond the bus company and the school district, as the Westfield real estate agent has taken to crafting policy to make things better. She is working with Assemblyman Jon Bramnick on Emma's Law.

"Emma's Law would be that every vehicle transporting special needs individuals would be equipped with real time GPS tracking, surveillance device and a communication device," Love said. "We have the preliminary draft. We need to get public support to start contacting their legislators and the governors office so that it can go to the next step."

Despite her challenges, Love said that Emma is one of the happiest, sweetest souls you would ever encounter.

"She finds humor in almost everything. She watches Dora the explorer and Seinfeld. She loves to play tricks on everyone, stealing your phone when you are not looking," Love said. "She goes to bed laughing and wakes up smiling everyday."

Love is speaking for her daughter to make Emma's Law a reality. She is hoping others will join her in lending Emma, and those like her, their voice.

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