The recent Hartford Courant article detailing Metro Realty’s proposed 62-unit housing development on Scott Swamp Road in Farmington highlights something families across Connecticut have long known: supported housing works.
For adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, or IDD, a safe, affordable apartment with the right supports is not simply a place to live. It becomes the foundation for their independence, dignity, and full participation in community life. Parents quoted in the article describe what we see every day across our state, people gaining confidence, managing daily routines, building friendships, and contributing as neighbors, employees, and citizens. For those same parents, it also is a sense of safety and security that is sometimes difficult to come by today.
These outcomes are the direct result of policy choices. When Connecticut makes the choice to invest in community-based supports instead of segregation and institutional care, everyone benefits. Developments like Trailside and the proposed Farmington project demonstrate how mixed-income, inclusive housing can benefit individuals with disabilities while strengthening communities and addressing the broader housing shortage.
But while these projects deserve celebration, they also underscore an urgent reality: Connecticut is nowhere close to meeting the need for supported and affordable housing for people with IDD. For many reasons, thousands remain on waiting lists for a variety of support services. Families are aging, caregivers are burning out, and too many people are forced into crisis placements or inappropriate settings because suitable housing options simply do not exist. That is why, we believe this legislative session presents an opportunity.
First, Connecticut needs to significantly expand funding for supported housing. Capital dollars for development are essential, but they are meaningless without sustainable operating funds and rental subsidies that allow people with disabilities to afford and remain in their homes.
Second, we need to address the workforce crisis that threatens the stability of every support system in our state. Direct support professionals, the people who help residents succeed in supported housing, as well as the Arc programs across Connecticut, are leaving the field because wages have not kept pace with the cost of living. Without a strong, fairly compensated workforce, even the best-designed housing cannot succeed.
Finally, supported housing should be recognized as a cost-effective public investment. When people with disabilities live in the community with appropriate supports, the state avoids far more expensive emergency care, institutional placements, and hospital stays. Supported housing is not just the right thing to do, it is smart fiscal policy.
The Farmington proposal reflects the best of what Connecticut can be: public-private partnerships, community inclusion, and policies that align housing with human dignity. Our legislators now have a responsibility to build on this momentum.
People with intellectual and developmental disabilities want what everyone wants, a home, a sense of belonging, and the chance to live a full life. This session, Connecticut lawmakers must ensure that this program, and programs across our state succeed, by providing critical funding for the Direct Service Professionals who are an integral part of supporting the IDD community. Our future depends on it.
Fay Lenz is the president of The ARC Connecticut and a parent of a child with IDD and autism. The Arc CT is part of the nation’s oldest and largest nonprofit federation dedicated to protecting the civil rights of people with IDD and advancing their full inclusion in community life.