Parents and advocates of developmentally disabled adults are calling on state lawmakers to fund a plan to reduce the waiting list for housing by 10 percent a year.

More than 8,000 people are currently sitting on the list waiting, and half of those are considered priority cases. Debbie Legutko, whose two adult sons have been on the priority list for more than four years, says she is concerned her children will not have a place to go after she dies.

The proposal, by the nonprofit Arc of New Jersey, asks the state to find housing for about 390 people on the list per year at a cost of $15 million. Of the 8,000 awaiting housing, the state currently only has the funds to place about 28 people.