Susan Aronoff, a policy analyst for the Vermont Developmental Disabilities Council, told the House Committee on Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs that Vermont needs a coordinated plan to build service‑supported housing for adults with developmental disabilities.

"That is the big question," Aronoff said of how many units are needed. She cited a 2023 report commissioned by the legislature that estimated a need of about 602 units and summarized the council's recommendation as roughly 600 additional units of service‑supported housing.

Why it matters: Aronoff told the committee that ad‑hoc planning grants and isolated projects will not meet demand and described legal and administrative obstacles that raise development costs or block people with high support needs from existing homeless‑response entry systems. She urged the legislature to authorize a cross‑agency planning effort, funded staff capacity at the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board (VHCB) and statutory fixes to agency rules that currently impede development.

Aronoff said the 2022 legislative package (Act 196 of 2022, as referenced in testimony) created three planning grants; two are running and a third needs $2,800,000 to be completed in Burlington, she said. She described a 2023 report by Lisonbee Hart that estimated about 602 units were needed, and said "We need 600 units of service for the housing."

Aronoff described several barriers the planning team should address: a state policy described in testimony as a "two‑person rule" that increases cost and complexity for shared living or congregate models; coordinated‑entry systems that prioritize people who become literally homeless (leaving people who enter nursing homes or emergency care without getting to the top of the queue); and a parallel workforce shortage in home‑and‑community‑based care that will limit how much housing can be used even if units are built.

She said Vermont received an "accelerator" technical‑assistance grant (no operating funding) that will bring VHCB, the Agency of Human Services and Medicaid together to help develop a plan. Aronoff asked the committee to include statutory planning language and to authorize a staff position to connect families and developers to projects; the committee discussed a placeholder figure of $1,100,000 (described in testimony as a placeholder for the position and associated costs) and an annual position cost discussed elsewhere in the hearing as roughly $100,000. Aronoff and committee members said the exact job description and cost would be worked out with VHCB.

Aronoff also reviewed Vermont's shift away from institutional care: she said the state closed Brandon (a developmental center) in 1993 and that VHCB helped create about 800 units at that time. She told the committee that some shared‑living providers are leaving the program (a figure given in testimony was a roughly 25% decline among providers) and that the state needs new residential models and supports that allow people to live outside institutions or nursing homes.

Committee next steps and context: Committee members asked VHCB and relevant agencies to provide language and testimony; Aronoff offered to coordinate draft plan language with committee staff (she named committee staffers Polly and Kim during exchanges). She also asked the committee to consider statutory changes within the Agency of Human Services that could remove self‑imposed obstacles to development. The testimony did not record any formal motion or vote; legislators asked for follow‑up letters and for VHCB to appear to describe specifics.

Ending: Aronoff concluded by thanking the committee for recent policy changes that placed people with developmental disabilities in VHCB priority categories and for including the population in other housing initiatives. She said the next steps are drafting bill language, getting VHCB input on the permanent staff position, and returning to the committee with specific legislative language and cost estimates.