Group Homes

1. Creatively support the whole person, physically, emotionally, and mentally.

2. Teach topics of interest and, based on his or her own choices, practice skills to benefit the members’ personal, home, and social lives.

3. Build confidence and teach tools to help each member to be as independent as possible. Members are encouraged to try new technologies available to have better access to information, move around the home, and join community activities (e.g., screen readers, keyboards, utensils, and adaptive equipment for outdoor activities).

4.  Bring the members and their families together in order to help build strong and positive relationships.

5. Plan trips and join in community events with family and friends. We also help find information in the community and connect our members and their families to people and agencies that may be a good fit to help with any special needs.

6. Support each member’s vision of the future.

Develop a Personal Care Service Plan: 

A team makes and follows a care plan based on goals from the Personal Care Service Plan (PCSP). The PCSP develops around the member’s vision of life and goals, together with the family, the state, and the Group Home manager.

• The member’s vision of life and the physical, mental, and emotional needs are at the care plan’s center. The team creates goals and then steps to achieve them. They consider the past, present, and what skills or tasks are necessary to complete the goals. For example, a member’s vision is to be a gardener. To improve in gardening, they consider how the member grew over the last year or six months, and what areas need expanding. Perhaps adding knee strengthening or flexibility stretches into the day will help. Maybe they agree learning more about food nutrition is important. The member may suggest hosting a party for the Group Home’s family night using food grown from the garden.

• As goals develop, all the preparation and little steps in between become part of the care plan. The team creates a schedule of when skills are taught, how they are taught, and what they will use to measure progress. For example, if the member needs stronger knees, exercise is planned twice a week in the morning. The staff teaches calisthenics, adds rubber bands, and progresses to weights around the ankles to grow endurance and power. They can measure strength over time and chart how the member feels once a week for three months.

• At the next group meeting, the team talks about how things went. They tailor goals and steps to keep moving towards the member’s vision of life.

Following the Plan:

We follow the plan for each member. Examples of what we do:

• Help with personal and physical care, such as hygiene and daily living skills.

• Help with individual home care, like cooking, shopping, banking, attending community events, and practicing social skills.

• If there are behavior concerns, staff training in positive behavior techniques helps the member work through emotions and aids in planning steps towards positive outcomes. For example, if the bedroom is always messy, they can remind, make visual schedules, and prompt them to what they can do next. If medication is specifically in the Plan, we work with behavioral health programs to ensure everything is in order and makes sense.

• Follow the member’s health plan from their doctor, and following-up as requested.

• Follow through with any prescribed therapies, like speech, occupational, and physical therapy; along with special diets, exercise, and anything else they need.

• Train members in the use of any technologies for improving movement, speech, or access of information.

• In general, staff is present all day and night to ensure the well-being of each member.

Independence:

• A member’s independence is of prime importance. Staff is present to help them grow, keep, or increase it in all aspects of their lives. For example, support care ranges from morning routines and critical thinking skills to recognizing and preventing illnesses.

Social/Life Skills:

• Figuring out social life and friendships can be a little hard. When a member expresses interest, staff teach social skills like how to greet someone, what are good questions to ask, and when to speak up or let someone else talk. Staff also help with day-to-day problem solving.

Sense of belonging:

• A feeling of belonging is vital to the well-being of a member. The entire agency exists for this purpose, for them to know the community wants and appreciates them. Our recreation and job training programs are available to each member to go out and experience new things as well as contribute to the community through the work of their own hands. Aside from the agency, staff work with a member to guide them to other community resources for anything else they may need.

Connection to community:

• Our drivers and vehicles remove barriers to daily life. Connecting people to people is for the purpose of our transportation service, available 24/7 for any member in our Group Homes. For example, a member can attend any of our day programs, go to work, take care of medical appointments and daily chores, visit family and friends, and join in on any community event.

Stability:

• Creating a monthly schedule helps with routine and fun. The monthly calendar is a group effort, where each member gives ideas and makes suggestions. The Group Home manager then considers each member, the Personal Care Service Plans, meals, activities, vacations, medical appointments, and day to day house chores. Activities are open to everyone, although different activities are available to anyone needing a rest from social life. The calendar is available upon request.

Communication with other services and programs:

• Each member is unique and special. The care of each one rests with the Group Home manager who actively stays in touch with the other programs in our agency, health care providers, and the state.