January 29, 2025

Late summer of 2024, The Fair Housing Council of Oregon was awarded a grant through the Fairview Trust. This grant allows our organization to work more deeply towards eliminating housing discrimination and pushing towards more inclusive communities for people living with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).  

As part of this grant, FHCO held multiple listening sessions virtually and in person throughout the state. For these sessions, we invited people with IDD, their families and support people, and IDD service providers. We provided participants with gift cards for their attendance. We used these sessions to get a sense of what housing discrimination looks like when applying for, living in, and moving out of rental housing as a person with IDD.

Why Focus on People Living with IDD?

The CDC reported an increase in the number of children diagnosed with IDD and we also see this reflected in reports we receive on our hotline. Over half of the calls we receive on our housing discrimination hotline are related to disability. We see a growing number of those calls related to issues of housing accessibility and discrimination for someone with IDD or a family with a child with IDD. Examples of calls we have seen include:

  • A family has received a termination notice because their child with IDD makes loud noises as part of their disability and this disturbs neighbors.
  • Repair requests are ignored for a tenant with IDD.
  • A landlord makes comments that a child with IDD “doesn’t really need” their assistance animal.  

We used these sessions to get a sense of what housing discrimination looks like when applying for, living in, and moving out of rental housing as a person with IDD. We ended with the question, what do you believe lawmakers need to know about housing for people with IDD?

Here’s What We Learned: 

1. Unaffordability is the top barrier faced by people with IDD when accessing housing.

Antiquated asset limits set by the Social Security Administration makes it difficult for someone with IDD on SSI or SSDI to save enough money for move in costs. While the ABLE savings account system was created to alleviate some of these financial burdens, it does not address the longstanding asset accrual issues within the SSI/SSDI program itself.  

2. A lack of support can be the difference between housing and eviction. 

Some people with IDD struggle with rental barriers like poor rental history or evictions that were related to a person’s disability. One service provider reported that a client of theirs received an eviction notice for not taking out the trash. However, no one explained to this tenant how to unlock the on-site dumpster. For a person with IDD, having appropriate support people in place can be the difference between housing and facing eviction.  

3. Housing becomes inaccessible without ease of use in design.

Advanced designs of appliances like dishwashers, faucets, or thermostats can make them inaccessible for some folks with IDD. Participants also reported that standard soundproofing in units is inadequate for both people who make noise due to their disability and those who become overstimulated by noise from neighbors and the outside world. Some participants experienced receiving termination notices because of noise complaints. Many did not understand their right to request a Reasonable Modification to soundproof their unit further, or if they did, lacked the funds to install proper soundproofing equipment.

4. It is common to experience disrespect from neighbors and housing providers.  

Participants reported feeling pushed out and unwelcomed by neighbors, the property management staff, and rising rent. One participant reported feeling unsafe in their neighborhood because they knew they were more vulnerable. When problems do arise, people with IDD may not be taken seriously by housing providers and have experienced being spoken over or dismissed in their concerns. 

Effects on Public Policy 

Managing a significant IDD can be extremely intensive at times. It may cause significant time and energy deficits, which can create barriers to getting involved with public policy, giving public testimony, or getting involved at the local or state level. In addition, the traditional time limits for public policy can create barriers for folks with IDD who speak more slowly due to their disability. When people with IDD do engage in public policy, they often report feeling dismissed or not taken seriously.

Our participants wanted policymakers to understand that housing for people with IDD is not one size fits all. A group home is not the right fit for everyone, and policymakers need to prioritize creating diverse types of deeply affordable, accessible, and safe housing.  

What’s Next?

Guided by the input gathered from participants in these listening sessions, FHCO will:

  • Create educational materials and a fair housing guidebook for people with IDD. All of the materials will be vetted by people with IDD prior to distribution.
  • Release a Fair Housing Self Advocacy training. The training will be created and facilitated alongside IDD self-advocates.
  • Offer two virtual trainings for local and state policy makers so they may more deeply understand the Fair Housing issues faced by the IDD community. We will also offer Public Policy recommendations.
  • Host a statewide IDD resource fair in Salem in April during Fair Housing Month.  

What we have learned from these listening sessions is that we are at the tip of the iceberg. In Oregon, we do not have enough housing to meet the needs of the IDD community which is more impacted by housing instability and affordability. We have an increasing population of people being diagnosed with IDD and not enough services or housing to support them. We hope that our work contributes to a larger shift in focus, attention, and resources toward inclusive, accessible housing for people with IDD that is free from discrimination.  

Read the Full Report

Community Vision partnered with FHCO to provide an in-depth analysis of the Fairview Listening Sessions. This report provides an overview of the content analysis process, a summary of each conceptual category, and the full content analysis. The identified themes will help advocates and policymakers to have a more nuanced understanding of housing issues and ways to resolve them.

You can read the analysis report here.

Participant Feedback

“Thank you for providing people in Southern Oregon with a chance to voice their concerns about the current state of housing here. I learned a great deal and also found some of the information to be very insightful. I appreciate your hard work!”  — Anonymous Participant

“At the listening session, there was a lot of good insight about how people with disabilities can be supported. It went really well. It’s important for people with disabilities to have the support they need.” — Anonymous Participant

“I was fortunate to be able to attend a listening session for I/DD (intellectual / developmental disabilities) individuals and families hosted by Jamie Gatewood with the Fair Housing Council in October. I was nervous at first and didn’t know what to expect, Jamie immediately made me and everyone else feel welcome and that our input was valuable to her. Everyone was able to share their experiences, concerns, and recommendations around fair housing for the I/DD community.” — Anonymous Participant