New Hampshire state leadership needs to take action to ease housing regulations for people with IDD
NONPROFITS
Just read or watch the news lately and you’ll see one issue that is crystal clear coming out of Concord: There is political agreement to fix the housing crisis.
“We need to get serious about housing production, streamline state agency approvals and partner with our local communities,” Gov. Ayotte stated in her inaugural address.
The House of Representatives has created a new committee on housing chaired by Rep. Joe Alexander of Goffstown.
The state Senate is setting up a special subcommittee on housing to bring all policy options together to increase access to housing for New Hampshire families.
This kind of consensus in government is rarely seen, especially in our current hyper-partisan political environment.
Now, of course, come the details of these policy proposals. Nearly every debate in the State House revolves around cutting regulations for housing developers so that affordable housing opportunities can be quickly identified. This is important.
Another issue with apparent momentum is doubling the amount of money that goes to the affordable housing fund from $5 million to $10 million. This is also important.
However, an issue that has eluded the larger State House debate is housing for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). For decades, this has been the forgotten population in the housing agenda.
When the Laconia School (the former institution for people with disabilities) was shut down in 1991 due to mistreatment of its residents, there was apparent consensus that the population with IDD would live at home with their families, or if they are independent enough, they will find housing in their town. The closure of Laconia was necessary, but the resulting loss of a serious housing dialogue since has had severe consequences.
People with IDD have been in a housing crisis for 35 years. According to the Disability Rights Center, there are approximately 27,000 people with IDD in the state and only a fraction live independently while most live with a family member throughout their lives.
Last year, our nonprofit Next Step Living started a development that will house 11 residents for people with IDD. The project is not yet completed, and we already have a waitlist of people wanting to live there. Why? Because the housing options for people with IDD are anemic. And that’s wrong.
Many people with IDD yearn to live independently, but they don’t have the resources that others have without IDD. In fact, many cannot work 40 hours per week and make enough money to live in a market rent apartment, and it’s difficult for them to get into affordable housing.
However, what we hear most from parents and guardians of people with IDD is their desire for community.
The fact is many people with IDD have difficulty making friendships and building community with others. Without that fellowship, people with IDD become lonely and even insular. This is the driving force behind our Next Step Living mission.
By creating a small, independent living development for people with IDD, we are giving them community. They come and go as they please, but they can also eat dinners together, go to the YMCA, walk to the park or go to church. Many people with IDD cannot drive and this development downtown gives them everything they need within walking distance: jobs, groceries, restaurants, entertainment, and the ability to join in downtown events like Market Days.
The challenge is, both state and federal regulations offer no assistance, and throw up hurdles, in a development like this. My friend, attorney Bill Ardinger, led an effort to build housing for people with disabilities that surpassed an entire decade before the regulatory roadblocks got the best of him. Don’t get me wrong, the City of Concord and the state of New Hampshire have been wildly supportive of our efforts and for that we are tremendously grateful. We have amazing people and companies volunteering to help us get this development off the ground.
What people with IDD need is Gov. Ayotte, the state Senate and the House of Representatives to get serious about taking action to ease regulations on housing for people with IDD, too. This likely means bringing together leaders in housing organizations, interested communities, the area agencies that manage the budgets for people with IDD, and disability advocates to find solutions.
There are answers, but it will take the same concerted effort in the current housing movement to include the disability community. People with IDD deserve to have the simple joys in life that those without disabilities sometimes take for granted.
Mike Dennehy is the president of Next Step Living, an organization with a mission to provide residential living to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Visit www.NextStepLiving.org.
