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Vermont aging and disability agency outlines services, housing pilots and workforce challenges
Summary
Officials from the Department for Disabilities, Aging, and Independent Living presented an overview of programs that serve tens of thousands of Vermonters, highlighted housing pilots under Act 186 and Mission Care’s new specialty facility, and described continuing workforce and adult-protective-services pressures.
Dr. Susan Bowen, commissioner of the Department for Disabilities, Aging, and Independent Living, told the Senate Health & Welfare Committee on Jan. 28 that the department’s mission is “to make Vermont the best state in which to grow old or live with a disability, with dignity, respect, and independence.”
The presentation summarized the department’s five divisions and program volumes, described recent successes including housing pilots funded under Act 186 and the September 2024 opening of Mission Care in Bennington, and flagged persistent workforce shortages across long-term-care and home-and-community services. The session included data on service volumes, licensing and adult-protective-workload increases, and questions from committee members about benefits work incentives and veteran benefit bills.
Dr. Bowen and division leaders said the department is heavily federally and Medicaid funded and complies with multiple federal and state mandates, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Older Americans Act, the Olmstead decision and CMS rules. Dr. Bowen described the department’s…
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