Stuck in the nest

Last night two parents attending Donna Thomson's talk spoke about trying to obtain funding to create a group home for their adult children.

One dad noted that at age 21, when schooling ends, so do any kind of meaningful daily activities for their children.

The parents said that in their research, they had learned that there are about 21,000 adults aged 21 to 36 in Ontario receiving Ontario Disability Support Program funding who are in effect "sitting at home with Mom and Dad, watching television." They said that another 50,000 young adults with disabilities would come into the ODSP program in the next five to seven years. That's a lot of young adults sitting at home with Mom and Dad.

I don't know if these numbers are accurate, but it seems clear that we are in a crisis that is going to deepen.

This piece in the Globe today looks at the decades-long wait for a group home for adults with intellectual disabilities. Parents last night noted that they were told that the only families receiving housing for adult children in the province include parents in their 90s.

Donna Thomson said that securing funding for supported housing for our children is a puzzle we need to put together from non-traditional sources in the future.