Funding will add 114 beds for people who need intensive care for disabilities, brain injuries

By: Annmarie Timmins - September 22, 2023 11:30 am

The Department of Health and Human Services is using federal money to increase housing for people who need intensive treatment for disabilities or traumatic brain injuries. (Getty Images)

The Department of Health and Human Services plans to use $2.1 million of federal funding to expand housing for people with disabilities or traumatic brain injuries who are at risk of homelessness or out-of-state placement.

The Executive Council approved the department’s request to provide four organizations grants to buy or renovate properties in Keene, Weare, Milford, and greater Manchester to house 14 to 18 individuals.

These investments are part of a larger effort that will add 114 beds treatment beds in a home-like community setting. Thirty-four organizations responded to the department’s offer of federal funding. It expects to award funding to 33 of them.

“The need for housing in specialized residences exceeds the number of placements available in New Hampshire,” DHHS Commissioner Lori Weaver told the council in her request. “The likelihood of out-of state-placement increases significantly when the need for alternative residential options arises suddenly.”

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Annmarie Timmins

Senior reporter Annmarie Timmins is a New Hampshire native who covered state government, courts, and social justice issues for the Concord Monitor for 25 years. During her time with the Monitor, she won a Nieman Fellowship to study journalism and mental health courts at Harvard for a year. She has taught journalism at the University of New Hampshire and writing at the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications. Email: [email protected]