With Few Resources, New York State Curtails Development of Group Residences

Morethan 6,000 people in New York State are on waiting lists for group homes, and the recent economic crisis will make their waits longer.
With New York hampered by a $15.4 billion budget deficit and an uncertain fiscal future, its Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities has canceled 84, or almost 17 percent, new group housing projects statewide. The agency operates 1,068 community-based sites serving more than 8,200 people.
The cuts come at a time when more people with developmental disabilities are outliving their parents, and advocates say the cuts could create a generation with nowhere to go.
"It is important for everyone, but especially those with developmental disabilities and their families, to know that development has and will continue, just not at the same scope and pace as before," said OMRDD spokeswoman Nicole Weinstein. "Our offices do not have all the resources it needs to fund all the new projects that have been requested."