A growing coalition of Vermont families is advocating for a new housing model that would allow adults with developmental disabilities to live together with professional support, moving beyond the current limited options of staying with parents or entering foster care.
The Developmental Disabilities Housing Initiative (DDHI) represents about 175 families who have been making their presence known at the Statehouse, according to organizers. The group tables weekly during legislative sessions and hosts an annual ice cream social where lawmakers meet with some of the estimated 600 adults with developmental disabilities whose families seek new housing solutions.
Donna Savage of Williston exemplifies the challenges facing these families. Her son Jack, who turns 25 this March, graduated from CVU High School three years ago after remaining in the school community until age 22.
“It was all that community — all the kids and having friends and aides at school and getting out and doing things — and it just ended,” Savage said of her son’s transition from school.
Jack requires around-the-clock support with daily living activities, according to his mother. He currently spends 13 hours per week with a visiting staff member from the Howard Center and works at a grocery store for one hour weekly. Savage has reduced her own work hours to provide additional care.
“He is home a lot,” she said. “His options are limited.”
The advocacy efforts have yielded legislative progress. The DDHI group secured passage of Act 186 in 2022, which established three pilot projects to demonstrate the service-supported group housing concept, according to the families involved.
The Riverflow Community opened with several rooms in Monkton in 2024, while a 10-room home in Burlington nears completion and a smaller project in a Randolph farmhouse remains in development, according to advocates.
However, these projects represent only a small portion of the identified need. The group continues lobbying for additional state support, including housing staff within the Agency of Human Services, housing vouchers, and an advisory committee to ensure future project implementation.
“I feel like we’re finally getting the Legislature to be very aware of (the issue),” Savage said. “We have the state’s attention now, but it’s a battle.”
Currently, Vermont adults with developmental disabilities face limited housing options beyond living with parents. The primary alternative has been a foster care model where families receive state compensation for providing living space and care in their homes.
Marla McQuiston, whose 28-year-old son is a CVU graduate with Down syndrome, describes the foster care system’s instability. “If you are in foster care, and the person decides they don’t want to do it anymore, it’s over,” she said. “Moving is very destabilizing.”
Savage characterizes the foster care model as “being a stranger in a series of people’s homes.”
“It’s working for some, but for someone with higher needs, it doesn’t work well. It’s almost kind of cruel,” she said. “The state needs to do better … Our kids deserve forever homes.”
The personal motivation driving these advocacy efforts stems from parents’ concerns about their children’s long-term care. “I just no longer want to wake up in the middle of the night and think ‘what is going to happen to him when I’m not here,’” Savage said. “We are motivated to make change happen. We need to know our kids are going to be OK.”
McQuiston and Savage, who live in the same Williston neighborhood, help lead a Chittenden County subgroup of the DDHI. McQuiston serves on the Williston Housing Committee, and both actively search for properties suitable for service-supported group homes through new construction or existing building retrofits.
The families continue their advocacy work while caring for their adult children, seeking to establish a sustainable housing model that provides both independence and necessary support for Vermont’s adults with developmental disabilities.
