Vermont is a glorious place to live but if you are the parent of an adult who will never be capable of living independently due to their lifelong cognitive disabilities, Vermont can be a scary place to call home.  It’s scary because the way things are now, once families are no longer able to care for their adult sons and daughters, they will likely end up in Vermont’s adult foster care system, called “Shared Living.” 

Shared Living can work well for people whose disabilities enable them to function somewhat independently, but for people with more significant cognitive challenges -- people who desperately need stability in order to thrive-- the Shared Living model, where they would spend their adult years as guests in the homes of a series of strangers -- is deeply disturbing to parents like us.   

It doesn’t have to be like this.  Vermont’s well-intentioned efforts to move beyond the institutionalization of people with significant intellectual disabilities have inadvertently stifled the development of housing options that address a range of needs.

Especially for adult Vermonters with the most significant developmental delays, the State’s bias against residential peer communities for people with cognitive disabilities has impeded the development of the kinds of stable communities that we routinely provide for our kids and aging parents – think college dorms or assisted living.

We raise this issue with some urgency because Vermont is about to become the recipient of about $162 million dollars, courtesy of the American Rescue Plan Act, which will provide Vermont with unprecedented one-time federal funding specifically designated to better serve Vermonters with disabilities.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to develop a few small, stable and stimulating residential peer communities that can provide these life-long vulnerable adults with a place to live and friends to live with, long after their parents are gone.  Please sign this petition if you’d like Vermont to implement the kind of enlightened change that Vermont is famous for and which other states have already done.