Area parents say the government is not providing for adults with developmental disabilities, and their concerns are being echoed by Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP Jeff Yurek.

It’s only two months into the fiscal year and Elgin County's $30,000 allotment of emergency funding for adults living with developmental disabilities is running out.

It’s just one of many areas that critics say is underfunded - contributing to growing concerns about adults who need care -  because once they turn 18, families are often left on their own.

Diane White has picked up her son Aidan from school nearly every day for 14 years. It’s a job she'll do until he turns 21- when he'll have to leave high school.

When that happens, the White family will be virtually on their own when it comes to caring for their son, but White says “I can't, I've been doing this for 18 plus years.”

It’s a problem across the province. When developmentally-challenged youth turn 18 many sources of support and funding are cut off.

Families are then forced onto decade-long wait lists for a bed in a residential care facility.

White says “My hope is that I can have a place for Aidan, here in St. Thomas, where he can thrive.”

But as Aidan gets stronger and White gets older, that wait seems heartbreakingly long.

“Realistically…15 years. I’ve never put that into words before, 15 years,” White says.

Although the government has funded an additional 3,000 beds over the past decade, and just recently committed an additional $40 million to support adults with disabilities, the need is far greater than that.

The lack of support compelled Amanda Telford to leave her 19-year-old severely autistic son at an Ottawa government office.

That’s something White doesn't want to resort to, but the only thing she can do in the interim is wait and pray.

“We wait until one of the residents passes away. Then a spot opens up. How horrific is that? That's what we have to wait for.”

And the wait time for just a handful of support hours isn't much easier to swallow, in Elgin County it’s over a year long.

Yurek says “They need to be assured that their children will be looked after. There's only so much space and so much time available…and the government needs to act.”

White works with Aidan - cares for him from dawn until dusk - with enthusiasm and unparalleled patience, but she can't do it forever.

Tory MPP Christine Elliott passed a motion asking the government to create an all-party committee to look at the situation and develop solutions but the government hasn't acted.

The ombudsman is also filing a report on services for Ontarians with developmental and mental disabilities, which is expected later this year.