State officials gave a warning to United Counseling Service this December: Fix your longstanding problems, or risk losing your current ability to operate.
The state’s problem with the nonprofit provider’s service lines for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities include safety concerns that “put clients and staff at risk of harm” — things like failure to comply with housing inspections, high staff turnover and inadequate staff training and skills — according to the Vermont Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living.
Now the Bennington-based agency must follow a corrective action plan and submit evidence to the department by March 2, to confirm that it has addressed the concerns. During this time, the agency is on a probationary status and unable to take new admissions of people seeking its services for intellectual disabilities.
United Counseling Service is one of the state’s 14 designated agencies — private, nonprofit organizations that the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living and the Vermont Department of Mental Health co-operatively contract with in each county to provide mental health care and human services, like care for those with intellectual disabilities and substance use disorders.
United Counseling Service sees 150 people with developmental disabilities. That includes medical care; different staffed, supervised, and group living arrangements; and transportation supports, among other services.
A key feature of the United Counseling Service’s support for those with developmental disabilities are the agency’s residential programs. The agency owns and operates three group living homes, with support professionals and a house manager in each residence full-time. The agency also facilitates “staffed living” for those with higher levels of need to receive more direct support in apartment-style residences, and it also coordinates shared living agreements for individuals to live in community members’ homes. Currently, the Bennington agency contracts with 28 shared living homes — 22 of which have been fully inspected and approved, the agency’s Director of Community Relations and Development, Heidi French, told VTDigger.
Care for six current clients is likely to be moved to another agency, she added, due to the safety concerns raised by the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living.
Separately, the agency also provides mental health services and substance use treatment. The mental health and substance use service lines remain unaffected by concerns from the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living, which specifically address care for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
To maintain designated status, an agency must meet criteria set and reviewed by the department. According to those at the department, United Counseling Service is not meeting the mark, and it hasn’t for quite some time.
In 2024, United Counseling Service’s status was knocked down to a provisional designation (“provisional designation without intent to de-designate”). Last month, it knocked that provisional status down one-degree further, to “provisional designation with intent to de-designate” (emphasis added).
If the agency loses its designation, it will no longer be able to receive state and federal funds from Medicaid for the care it provides those with intellectual disabilities, and the state would need to designate a different organization as the replacement. The department has 90 days following United Counseling Service’s March 2 submission of evidence to decide whether to begin the de-designation process.
Other designated agencies have reached this point in the past, explained Vermont House Human Services Committee Chair Rep. Theresa Wood, D-Waterbury, who was briefed on the issue. In those cases, the agency at issue has worked across the network of fellow agencies through Vermont Care Partners to share resources and regain full designation status.
“It’s unfortunate because [United Counseling Service is] an organization that historically has been very strong. Sometimes this happens when you have a lot of turnover in key leadership, and they have had quite a bit of turnover in leadership positions,” Wood said.
In its more specific role in regulating residential facilities, the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living has also mandated that the agency bring its shared living homes in line with safety requirements earlier than the March 2 deadline or risk having the department withhold administrative costs for the homes that remain noncompliant.
“We have been and are continuing to do everything we can to ensure we come into compliance. This shift in designation indicates there’s a continued need to do that critical work in order to get back to full designation status,” French wrote in an email to VTDigger.
She said that United Counseling Service is working on additional training and staff oversight and ensuring its shared living homes are inspected and compliant with safety standards.
Statehouse Bureau Chief Ethan Weinstein contributed reporting.
