2021-02-17

Milton getting a new small option home

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The village of Milton, in Queens County, will soon be one of the latest locations for a new small option home, which will provide more opportunities for individuals with disabilities.

On February 1, Nova Scotia's Department of Community Services announced that a home in Milton is among eight new small option homes it's developing across the province in a $5 million initiative to facilitate Disability Support Program participants in the community.

In contrast with a larger institution, a small option home is one that is run as a community service for just three or four persons with disabilities.

Small option homes are owned by service providers, who are responsible for the construction and operation of the homes. The residents are supported by qualified staff through a combination of live-in and shift models.

The renovated Milton home should be move-in ready by mid-March and will welcome four new occupants, according to Treena Dexter, executive director of Queens Association for Supported Living (QASL), the service provider that owns the home and will look after the residents.

QASL owns and operates three other community homes located in the Region of Queens, with five residents in each.

"We're thrilled. Small option homes, and community homes in general, don't come very often," said Dexter. "We're very excited to provide this support to the individuals and their families."

QASL actually began the process of developing the new small option home in Milton in the fall of 2019. It signed a construction agreement with Community Services last February, and construction started soon after.

"I am just so excited about this. These homes are so important," echoed Kim Masland, Queens-Shelburne MLA.

Masland praised QASL's efforts, suggesting the community was "truly blessed" to have the group.

According to Dexter, there's a waiting list for the homes. In order to be considered for placement in a home funded and licensed by the Disability Support Program, an individual must be 19 years of age or over, have a diagnosis of intellectual disability, long-term mental illness, and/or physical disability, and deemed eligible via an assessment process that includes a functional and financial assessment.

Despite her enthusiasm for the new home, Masland criticized the slow roll-out of programs, such as the building of small option homes, and said more work is needed.

"The eight homes are just a drop in the bucket," said Masland. "We are the last province in the country to fully phase out adult residential facilities."

For its part, the Department of Community Services suggested it's taking concrete steps to ensure disabled Nova Scotians have more opportunity to live in their communities and participate in employment and volunteer work.

"We want to ensure that the supports we provide are accessible, flexible, and responsive to needs, so that participants and families have more choice," the department stated in its announcement on February 1.

The development of more community-based homes for people with disabilities is part of the government's commitment to being an accessible province by 2030, it added.

Currently, there are 225 community-based, small option homes in Nova Scotia. Recently homes have been opened in New Glasgow, Isle Madame, New Minas and Yarmouth.