This Week's Interview – Jim Houle
By Zack Anchors
Staff writer
Jim Houle, president of the Maine Trust for People with Disabilities (MTPD), understands well the challenges that face families of people with developmental disabilities.
Among the eight brothers and sisters that Houle grew up with in Biddeford was his second-youngest sibling, John, who was mentally retarded. Back then, Houle said, educational services offered for people with John’s condition were limited and inadequate. To remedy that problem Houle’s family established Creative Work Systems, an organization designed to provide educational training for people with disabilities.
“I grew up in a family that had a culture that didn’t take ‘no’ for an answer for what was available for people with developmental disabilities,” said Houle. “Now CWS has over 200 employees and has helped thousands of Mainers over the years.”
And now, 40 years later, Houle, who lives in Scarborough, is following in the tradition of his parents and creating another organization with the goal of helping people with developmental disabilities and their families. Last year, Houle created MTPD to deal with a dilemma that he had been encountering for years in his work as an estate-planning lawyer at Bernstein-Shur. In fact, the dilemma MPTD addresses is one that Houle’s own parents had dealt with when they were planning their inheritance.
Many parents of developmentally disabled people want to make sure that when they die a portion of their estate will be left for their son or daughter so that they can maintain a high quality of life and receive the services they need. But because of the way state and federal policies are structured, doing that is not an easy process. Current laws mandate that if a disabled person has $2,000 or more they are ineligible for government benefits through programs like Medicaid and SSI until they spend the money they have.
“The inheritance essentially takes the place of government help for some period of time, and that is usually not the intention of the parent,” said Houle. “You don’t qualify for benefits if you have $2,000 in assets – you have to be impoverished.”
The main reason that disabled individuals might need to have additional financial support beyond the government benefits is because the benefits only cover certain expenses, usually the most crucial ones.
“Perhaps a person wants to go to a summer camp, or a special training or take a trip to see a relative or see a movie – the government benefits don’t cover those expenses,” said Houle. “Some woman like to have their nails done and their hair done and the government won’t pay for that.”
The easiest way for families to provide an inheritance for their disabled child without disrupting their government benefits is to set up a special-needs trust, which is overseen by a board of directors that decides when money can be issued to the individual. Houle said he gets approached by clients all the time that are interested in setting up such a trust.
“Because I’m an estate planning lawyer I do a lot of these and I even did so for my own parents – I set up a special-needs trust for them,” said Houle.
But Houle said special-needs trusts typically cost thousands of dollars to set up, leaving many low-income families searching for other options.
“The problem is that there are thousands of Maine families that can’t afford to hire an attorney to set up a sophisticated estate plan that includes a special-needs trust,” said Houle.
That’s where MTPD comes in.
“The concept behind Maine People’s Trust is to set up a pooled special-needs trust,” said Houle. “It’s the first affordable pooled trust in the state. It allows families to open up an account by filling out a form and paying $500 to start an account. The ongoing cost of the trust is then nothing until it becomes active.”
One of the main advantages of MTPD’s pooled trust, besides its affordability, is the board of trustees that oversees the accounts. Volunteers from a wide range of fields – lawyers, bankers, health-care professionals – are tasked with ensuring that the money left in a trust is used effectively and responsibly. And the board has the expertise to make sure that money an individual draws from their trust does not interfere with their government benefits.
“What people get with this is rock-bottom costs and expert services,” said Houle.
So far MTPD has only accepted a few applicants for trusts, but Houle said many more are expected in the near future. Eventually Houle expects MTPD to also offer grants to some families that do not have money to set up a special-needs trust. Other families setting up trusts with MTPD would have the option of designating any money left in their account after the death of the disabled individual to be directed towards a foundation that would fund the grants.
“One of the things that parents can do is that if there is balance when their child dies that money can be put into our foundation,” said Houle. “But they don’t have to – many parents give that money to other children or to other charities.”
Houle said that overall, services for people with developmental disabilities in Maine and throughout the U.S. could be much improved. Houle’s brother John spent several years at Pineland – the now-closed state institution in New Gloucester where many people with developmental disabilities in Maine once lived. Although John is now living in a home with a good environment that he likes, other former residents of Pineland were not as lucky, Houle said.
“When Pineland was closed there were promises made by the state to provide residents with good housing and service programs that would meet their needs,” said Houle. “But for a lot of people that really hasn’t happened. A lot of the housing is inferior. . . . There has been a significant degradation in living services and quality of life.”
Houle also said government benefits for developmentally disabled people have gotten lower in recent years and are in danger of being cut back more.
Families who are interested in learning more about MTPD can visit the organization’s website: www.themainetrust.com. This Saturday, Jan. 27, there will also be an informational session on MTPD at STRIVE, an organization that supports people with disabilities who are attending the University of Southern Maine. That session will be at 10 a.m. at 28 Foden Road in South Portland.
Staff writer
Jim Houle, president of the Maine Trust for People with Disabilities (MTPD), understands well the challenges that face families of people with developmental disabilities.
Among the eight brothers and sisters that Houle grew up with in Biddeford was his second-youngest sibling, John, who was mentally retarded. Back then, Houle said, educational services offered for people with John’s condition were limited and inadequate. To remedy that problem Houle’s family established Creative Work Systems, an organization designed to provide educational training for people with disabilities.
“I grew up in a family that had a culture that didn’t take ‘no’ for an answer for what was available for people with developmental disabilities,” said Houle. “Now CWS has over 200 employees and has helped thousands of Mainers over the years.”
And now, 40 years later, Houle, who lives in Scarborough, is following in the tradition of his parents and creating another organization with the goal of helping people with developmental disabilities and their families. Last year, Houle created MTPD to deal with a dilemma that he had been encountering for years in his work as an estate-planning lawyer at Bernstein-Shur. In fact, the dilemma MPTD addresses is one that Houle’s own parents had dealt with when they were planning their inheritance.
Many parents of developmentally disabled people want to make sure that when they die a portion of their estate will be left for their son or daughter so that they can maintain a high quality of life and receive the services they need. But because of the way state and federal policies are structured, doing that is not an easy process. Current laws mandate that if a disabled person has $2,000 or more they are ineligible for government benefits through programs like Medicaid and SSI until they spend the money they have.
“The inheritance essentially takes the place of government help for some period of time, and that is usually not the intention of the parent,” said Houle. “You don’t qualify for benefits if you have $2,000 in assets – you have to be impoverished.”
The main reason that disabled individuals might need to have additional financial support beyond the government benefits is because the benefits only cover certain expenses, usually the most crucial ones.
“Perhaps a person wants to go to a summer camp, or a special training or take a trip to see a relative or see a movie – the government benefits don’t cover those expenses,” said Houle. “Some woman like to have their nails done and their hair done and the government won’t pay for that.”
The easiest way for families to provide an inheritance for their disabled child without disrupting their government benefits is to set up a special-needs trust, which is overseen by a board of directors that decides when money can be issued to the individual. Houle said he gets approached by clients all the time that are interested in setting up such a trust.
“Because I’m an estate planning lawyer I do a lot of these and I even did so for my own parents – I set up a special-needs trust for them,” said Houle.
But Houle said special-needs trusts typically cost thousands of dollars to set up, leaving many low-income families searching for other options.
“The problem is that there are thousands of Maine families that can’t afford to hire an attorney to set up a sophisticated estate plan that includes a special-needs trust,” said Houle.
That’s where MTPD comes in.
“The concept behind Maine People’s Trust is to set up a pooled special-needs trust,” said Houle. “It’s the first affordable pooled trust in the state. It allows families to open up an account by filling out a form and paying $500 to start an account. The ongoing cost of the trust is then nothing until it becomes active.”
One of the main advantages of MTPD’s pooled trust, besides its affordability, is the board of trustees that oversees the accounts. Volunteers from a wide range of fields – lawyers, bankers, health-care professionals – are tasked with ensuring that the money left in a trust is used effectively and responsibly. And the board has the expertise to make sure that money an individual draws from their trust does not interfere with their government benefits.
“What people get with this is rock-bottom costs and expert services,” said Houle.
So far MTPD has only accepted a few applicants for trusts, but Houle said many more are expected in the near future. Eventually Houle expects MTPD to also offer grants to some families that do not have money to set up a special-needs trust. Other families setting up trusts with MTPD would have the option of designating any money left in their account after the death of the disabled individual to be directed towards a foundation that would fund the grants.
“One of the things that parents can do is that if there is balance when their child dies that money can be put into our foundation,” said Houle. “But they don’t have to – many parents give that money to other children or to other charities.”
Houle said that overall, services for people with developmental disabilities in Maine and throughout the U.S. could be much improved. Houle’s brother John spent several years at Pineland – the now-closed state institution in New Gloucester where many people with developmental disabilities in Maine once lived. Although John is now living in a home with a good environment that he likes, other former residents of Pineland were not as lucky, Houle said.
“When Pineland was closed there were promises made by the state to provide residents with good housing and service programs that would meet their needs,” said Houle. “But for a lot of people that really hasn’t happened. A lot of the housing is inferior. . . . There has been a significant degradation in living services and quality of life.”
Houle also said government benefits for developmentally disabled people have gotten lower in recent years and are in danger of being cut back more.
Families who are interested in learning more about MTPD can visit the organization’s website: www.themainetrust.com. This Saturday, Jan. 27, there will also be an informational session on MTPD at STRIVE, an organization that supports people with disabilities who are attending the University of Southern Maine. That session will be at 10 a.m. at 28 Foden Road in South Portland.
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