There are many things to work out when people with disability start living in the community with support. This is because big changes have to happen in the way services are provided. Getting real supported living for a person takes time and energy. There is no ‘model’ to follow because the kind of support has to be worked out individually for each person.
Many supported living projects have happened because families acted together to support their family member with a disability.
Even though each person may get different kinds of support, all good supported living arrangements have some things in common.
Supported living starts with real person centred planning
The person is always the most important thing, with family, friends, community and services taking the person’s interests and skills into account. There are different planning tools to help families and services get really good at taking into account the person’s interests and skills. The aim of these planning tools is to make sure the person has choices and control in making plans. Another aim is to make sure the supports really help the person to live in and belong to their community.
Planning and supports are there to suit the person’s needs
It is important that services and supports can change if the person’s needs change. Organisations should want to provide services that can change easily to meet people’s needs. Strict rules and policies of organisations should be discussed to allow new ways of providing services and meeting changed needs. There have to be safeguards to make sure the person is safe and well.
People with disability and their families steer the decision making
To make supported living happen services need to work as partners with the person and their family. Services often do the practical support and paper work. People with disability, their families and support networks make the decisions.
Staff are well trained and supported to work with people and their families
Training develops workers’ skills, attitudes and knowledge. It helps workers to understand how to support a person with disability. Workers get better at getting communities involved and getting support networks for the person. Services build trust and support the workers. Services are open to the person and their family choosing the right staff and support arrangements.
Housing and support are separate things
Housing and supports are provided by different organisations. A person may live in a home they rent, own, or share with others. As the persons’ life changes, their housing may change but their support networks may stay the same. The person’s home looks like the homes of other people in the same street and neighbourhood.
Funding is for the person and may change to suit their changing needs
The money for supported living is an individual amount for the particular person. It is enough to pay for the person’s changing needs throughout their life.
There is a real promise to keep on supporting the person to have a better life
The support services check what they are doing to make sure the person is getting what they want. This means the services check with the person and their family to see if the person feels they belong in their community. The services check that the person is doing things that increase their feeling of belonging and getting involved in their community, increasing their relationships with other people, not just going along. Supporting the person to get their goals and what they want in life are the most important things.
Services are usually small
Support services for the person are usually small, working for one or a few people. Sometimes larger organisations give networks of local services the power to work locally to support the person.