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Letter to Municipal Officials: |
The New Jersey Department of Human Services (DHS)
funds and licenses homes and apartments in communities across New
Jersey for people with disabilities. In your leadership role, you
may know of constituents who have questions regarding these community
living programs; you may have some of your own.
Our goal is to be responsive to your concerns,
and ensure that our community homes continue to be an asset to both
the residents and their neighborhoods. Consider the following:
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Most group homes for people with physical or
mental disabilities qualify for a Council on Affordable Housing
(COAH) bonus. Group homes may qualify for a "two-for-one"
credit, based upon the number of bedrooms, toward a municipality’s
COAH obligation.
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There are concerns that people with disabilities
are dangerous and pose a threat to your communities. We want
to assure you that hundreds of community living programs, developed
during the last two decades, have proven that people with disabilities
are good citizens. If people are considered to be a danger to
themselves or others, a community living program is not recommended
for them.
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State law N.J.S.A. 30:11-B-5, requires the
Department of Human Services to ensure that homes for people
with disabilities are "geographically available throughout
the state without unnecessary concentration." We now provide
the agencies that develop these community living programs with
information on other Human Services-funded homes in the area.
We strongly encourage the agencies to find ways to equally distribute
the programs.
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Many municipal officials express concern that
there is no prior notification when a community living program
is developed in the area. Prior notification to local officials
of the intent to develop group homes was required in New Jersey
in 1982 by Administrative Rule. The Regulation was allowed to
expire in 1988, when the Federal Fair Housing Act Amendment
specifically extended the law to cover persons with disabilities
to prevent discrimination in housing. In a formal legal advisement,
the Office of the State Attorney General determined prior notification
to be inconsistent with the spirit of the law. "…A
requirement that notice be given to local officials before a
residential facility for the handicapped is established in the
community would constitute an unlawful practice prohibited by
the Act…" (90-0187–The Federal Fair Housing Amendments
Act and Community Residences for the Handicapped. November 7,
1991).
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Housing for people with disabilities should
be treated in the same way as housing for any citizen -
that’s the law. For instance, the law similarly forbids
municipal officials to be notified when other minority groups
move into a neighborhood.
Good Neighbors, Community Living for People
with Disabilities is coordinated by the New Jersey Department
of Human Services. We are proud to have developed this information
program in partnership with people with disabilities and their families,
community and government leaders and with representatives of disability
advocacy and human service provider agencies.
As part of this program, we have made available
general information and a guidebook for municipal officials and
solicitors, called "Laws, Rules, Policies Affecting Community
Residences for People With Disabilities." We also would be
happy to meet with municipal officials to discuss our community
living initiative and our efforts to build better relationships
with host communities.
Finally, we have developed this
program to listen to your concerns and respond to your questions.
Because your feedback is so important to us, we have established
-- for the first time -- a toll-free number and this website so
that municipal officials and neighbors can get additional information
on the DHS-sponsored homes and the Good Neighbors, Community
Living for People with Disabilities program. Call
1-877-DHS-LINE (347-5463).
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