Dan and Linda Fox of Pasadena have spent the last 14 years fighting for more state funding for residents with developmental disabilities.

Their 38-year-old daughter, Tracy,, who suffers from seizures and mental disabilities, lives in a group home run by the nonprofit Bello Machre. She has the services she needs to live independently, the Foxes say.

But thousands of others with disabilities aren't so lucky. More than 19,000 Marylanders are on the state Developmental Disabilities Administration's waiting list, which grows every day, providers say. About 1,200 of those waiting live in Anne Arundel County.

"We...