Those with disabilities need housing benefit help
By Pam Blanton / For The Herald
Housing is the foundation for a good life. Yet for many people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD), the path toward home is anything but clear.
Our state is home to more than 48,000 adults with IDD; 70 percent of them live at home with family caregivers, according to a recent report on IDD housing needs in our state, according to the state Department of Social and Health Services and ECONorthwest. As these family caregivers age and can no longer care for their family members at home, thousands of Washington residents with IDD will need to find a new place to live. And many adults with IDD want to — and deserve to — experience life outside their family home, but they need a plan.
Complicating the issue, just 57 percent of these adults receive any benefits from our state’s Developmental Disabilities Association – not because they don’t qualify, but because families face huge challenges navigating the benefits silos and understanding what benefits their loved one is eligible for, including Social Security, disability benefits, food benefits, and Section 8 housing subsidies.
Securing the right benefits can make or break a housing plan. Yet barely half of the adults with IDD in our state are able to get access to those benefits. King County and the greater Seattle are home to close to 6,500 adults with IDD — many currently going without the benefits they’re entitled to — who face potential housing insecurity now or in the coming years.
https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-those-with-disabilities-need-housing-benefit-help/