A Longmont group home for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities is closing, the Imagine! Foundation confirmed on Tuesday.
The Longmont Charles Family SmartHome, which opened on Otis Road more than a decade ago, has not been able to secure enough state funding to remain open, said Imagine! Foundation Director of Public Relations Fred Hobbs.
“Unfortunately, appropriate funding for the group home model has long been an issue with the state,” Hobbs explained. “By some estimates, the funding we receive only covers about one half of the actual costs to operate our group homes.”
The Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing funds several models of residential group homes, and the home on Otis Road is considered among the least financially sustainable long term, Hobbs said. Instead, the nonprofit is opening companion home models, such as a new group home on Collyer Street, which are considered more financially sustainable. Companion homes pair people with disabilities with a qualified independent provider of care who owns the home. The Longmont Charles Family SmartHome, however, is licensed by the state.
For two decades, the Imagine! Foundation has been lobbying the state to provide more funding for housing people with disabilities.
“While we achieved some small victories along the way, we haven’t been able to change the overall lack of political will necessary to find sustainable long term answers to the housing challenges faced by individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities,” Hobbs said. “We have been consistently warning our state and federal government leaders that group home closings would continue to rise, and that has proven to be the case. More than 40% of group homes have closed across the state in the past five years.”
The nonprofit doesn’t have the funding to keep absorbing the costs required to keep the homes open, without risking the rest of the services the organization provides.
Marc Williams, spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, said in a statement that the department “acknowledges the challenges that many group homes face and has been working with this provider, the (case management agency), and various stakeholders for the past year to review rates and find ways to increase their reimbursement.”
Williams said the state department provided a 10% increase in January 2022 for group homes, as well as a series of increases through American Rescue Plan Act funding over the past several years.
“Additionally, in its FY23-24 budget, the Department has requested an increase in rates for Group Residential Service and Supports (Group Homes). The amounts vary but, at a minimum, everyone in a group home would receive a rate increase of 25.2% statewide,” the statement read. “If a member has more complex or acute needs, that number will be higher.”
The state department has worked closely with the Imagine! nonprofit over the past month after the organization made the difficult decision to close the Longmont group home, Williams said.
“Our immediate focus is on coordinating with the (organization) to successfully transition the impacted members to another community setting,” his statement read.
The Imagine! Foundation’s residential management team is searching for new homes for the Longmont Charles Family SmartHome residents, Hobbs said.
In addition to the more financially sustainable companion homes, the nonprofit is seeking “host homes” for the residents — a model that allows the residents to live in the community with someone who is available to provide support when needed.
“Every decision made about new residential placements will be made with their safety, their care needs, their personal preferences and their ability to continue to be active participants in their communities at the very forefront,” Hobbs said.
