Supported Living (SL)
Supported living addresses the
desires, goals, strengths, abilities, needs, health, safety, and life span
issues of persons usually living in their own homes (apartments, townhouses, or
other residential settings). Supported living services are generally long-term
in nature but may change in scope, duration, intensity, or location as the
needs and preferences of individuals change over time.
Supported living refers to the support services
provided to the person served, not the residence in which these services are
provided. A sample of people receiving services/supports in these sites will be
visited as part of the interview process. Although the residence will generally
be owned, rented, or leased by the person who lives there, the organization may
occasionally rent or lease an apartment when the person served is unable to do
so. Typically, in this situation the organization would co-sign or in other
ways guarantee the lease or rental agreement; however, the person served would
be identified as the tenant.
Supported living programs may be referred to as
supported living services, independent living, supportive living,
semi-independent living, and apartment living; and services/supports may
include home health aide and personal care attendant services. Typically there
would not be more than two or three persons served living in a residence, no
house rules or structure would be applied to the living situation by the
organization, and persons served can come and go as they please. Service
planning often identifies the number of hours and types of support services
provided.
The home or individual apartment of the person
served, even when the organization holds the lease or rental agreement on
behalf of the person served, is not included in the survey application or
identified as a site on the accreditation outcome.
Some examples of the
quality results desired by the different stakeholders of these
services/supports include:
- Persons served
achieving choice of housing, either rent or ownership.
- Persons served
choosing whom they will live with, if anyone.
- Minimizing
individual risks.
- Persons served have
access to the benefits of community living.
- Persons served have
autonomy and independence in making life choices.