Companies under state contract need not notify neighbors when buying homes for those with intellectual/developmental disabilities

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Marcel Boudreau and Carol Klinkhamer, a retired couple who live on Tolles Street in Nashua, said police have been called repeatedly to their quiet neighborhood after Community Options bought a house to provide care for a severely mentally disabled person./Pat Grossmith

NASHUA, NH – About 5:30 a.m. one morning in July, Justin Bodington said his wife was getting ready for work when she heard a loud, “Smash, smash, smash.”

She looked across the street at 151 Tolles St. and saw a young woman in the front yard with a knife, breaking windows, he recalled.  They called police.

Marcel Boudreau, who lives down the street, said the woman smashed a window with a chair from inside the home and then climbed out.

“This young woman comes out of the house and starts running around the neighborhood with a knife,” Bodington said.  In another similar incident a few nights later the caretakers told them to go back inside, there was no need for concern.  They said the woman was harmless, according to Bodington.

“Who the hell are these people?  What’s going on?” was Bodington’s reaction.

Police arrived and the woman was taken away in an ambulance.  

Bodington and his wife headed off to work.  When he returned later that day, everything was back to normal. The next night, he said, the woman was back and broke into the house. The police were called again and the woman was led away in handcuffs, Bodintgon said.

“What the hell happened?” he wanted to know. Bodington went across the street to talk to the caregivers.  He said they told him they are a mental health care company.  When he pressed for more information, he said the workers wouldn’t say anything other than, “We are contracted with the state and you can’t do anything about it.”  Bodington said then they “flat out laughed.”

On Feb. 20, 2024, Community Options of Princeton, N.J., bought the home for $575,000.  At the time, Bodington said, residents joked that an equity company had purchased the single-family residence.

What they didn’t know, is that Community Options, is under contract with the state to provide services to people with severe intellectual and/or development disabilities and who need a higher level of care.  And, municipal ordinances do not apply to the state according to a spokesman for the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

“Supporting people with developmental disabilities by providing them with opportunities to achieve independence and fulfillment, including community-based supportive housing, is one of the key priorities of the State’s developmental services system and the organizations that serve individuals who have a disability,” DDHS spokesman Jake Leon said in an email.  “Individuals living in community residences are placed in those settings because they receive services through the developmental services system and under RSA 126-A, providers that carry out the work of the Department are exempt from zoning restrictions. The Department works with providers of community residences to help them address any issues that arise.

According to DHHS the state invested a total of $12,460,000 to increase in-state capacity for those individuals.

The funds are to be used to create 114 beds in 33 homes statewide through 9 contracts.  DHHS awarded Community Options, founded in 2023 to provide residential and employment support services to individuals with disabilities living in Nashua, Manchester and other areas, a total of $3.2 million in funding for 2024 and 2025. 

Under its contact, Community Options is to purchase no fewer than 12 existing homes in New Hampshire, as approved by DHHS to house a minimum of 32 individuals. 

Bodington said neighbors were never notified about what the intended use was for the home, nor were there any hearings concerning permits. They were unaware the state was exempt from the permitting process.

The Nashua residents aren’t the only ones who have seen their neighborhood change after Community Options bought a home there.

This past summer in Manchester, residents living on Vandora Street, another quiet neighborhood of single-family homes, experienced the same thing as residents on Tolles Street.

The neighborhood’s peacefulness was disrupted when Community Options Inc. in November 2023 purchased the four-bedroom, 1 ½ bath home at 54 Vandora Drive for $468,800, according to the city’s assessors’ database.  On March 12, 2024, it purchased another single-family home at 7 Rosewood Lane in Manchester for $566,000.

A large man, with mental health issues, moved into the Vandora Drive home, tended to by caretakers.  The man, residents said, was violent and assaulted the workers. He also wandered the neighborhood, entering homes uninvited.

Residents complained there was never any hearing about a home being used for that purpose, the same thing that happened on Tolles Street.

“It was sneaky,” said Carol Klinkhamer, who lives with Boudreau, on Tolles Street.  “That’s the problem I have with it.”

One woman, who witnessed the woman with the knife, is “scared to death,” said Klinkhamer.  She won’t let her young child go outside alone anymore because of what happened. “You don’t know what to expect,” she said.

DHHS awarded New Jersey Community Options, founded in 2023 to provide residential and employment support services to individuals with disabilities living in Nashua, Manchester and other areas, a total of $3.2 million in funding for 2024 and 2025. This house on Tolles Street wa purchased by the company in February for $575,000.

 Since July, police have been called to Tolles Street seven times, according to the police department’s records division. 

Klinkhamer, a retired nurse who has lived in the neighborhood for four years, said that never happened before Community Options purchased 151 Tolles St.

Bodington said he learned neither city officials nor police in Nashua or Manchester were aware that Community Options was buying the property and that someone with severe disabilities would be living there.

“They flew under the wire,” he said.

Wei-Han Zhou, vice president of Strategic Operations for Community Options Inc. in Princeton, N.J., said what happened at the Tolles Street home was an isolated incident.

“Since then, we have had multiple constructive conversations with law enforcement, state, and local officials to address the situation. As an organization dedicated to supporting people with disabilities, Community Options operates in compliance with state regulations and prioritizes the safety and well-being of both the people we support and the surrounding community,” he said in an email.

“While privacy laws prevent us from commenting on specific individuals, we work closely with healthcare professionals, local authorities, and the appropriate state agencies to ensure that care is provided in a manner that is both safe and respectful. Situations involving individuals with complex needs can be difficult, but we are committed to maintaining a positive and collaborative relationship with the communities in which we operate,” he said.