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Parents, advocates urge funding for developmental-disabilities housing and Medicaid support
Summary
Marlon Preston of the Developmental Disabilities Housing Initiative and parent Laurie Mumley told the Senate Health & Welfare Committee that Vermont lacks enough specialized, staffed housing for people with moderate to high support needs and urged lawmakers to fund a Champlain Housing Trust project and support Medicaid rate increases to stabilize direct support staffing.
Members of the public and advocacy groups addressed the Senate Health & Welfare Committee about housing shortages and staffing challenges for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Marlon Preston, identifying himself with the Developmental Disabilities Housing Initiative, asked lawmakers for two funding priorities: the remaining $2.8 million needed to complete the Champlain Housing Trust project in Burlington and support for a Medicaid rate increase or direct support professional (DSP) wage increase. Preston said the $2.8 million “is included in the House-passed budget adjustment act,” and requested committee support to keep that funding in place.
Preston described why specialized housing is needed: many people with moderate to high support needs require residences with larger bathrooms, lifting systems, staffed meal preparation and shared living with peers. He said the state has relied heavily on shared living providers and aging parents, and that a 2023 housing brief estimated an immediate need for roughly 602 housing units for the population discussed. Preston also said a multi-agency survey found that 25% of shared living providers plan to leave in the next five years.
Laurie Mumley, a Shelburne resident and parent, described her adult son’s placement out of state and the family’s efforts to secure appropriate residential services in Vermont. She said her son “thrived” in an out-of-state residential educational placement and that his regression and weight gain after returning to Vermont underscore the lack of local options. Mumley said many families are providing unpaid care and that shared living arrangements do not reliably meet high-support needs.
Speakers urged committee members to support both the one-time capital need for the Champlain Housing Trust project and ongoing Medicaid rate increases or other funding to stabilize staffing for direct support professionals. The transcript records requests for those funding actions but does not include a formal committee vote or commitment in this session.
