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Parent Partnerships Achieving Independence in Maine.

Posted by Autism Society on 01/15/2010.

Recently, at a meeting of Port Resources’ Special Project Advisory Group  (this group is working on developing specialized housing for young adults with high functioning autism) the idea of  creating new funding options, in light of our current state budget was discussed.  Knowing well the range of challenges faced by these young people and their families the group felt an urgency to explore new service models that were not dependant on state funding. 


As discussion continued there was recognition of the fact that many of the parents and families of these young people are providing the needed services currently within their homes; however the social isolation for the young adults and relentlessness of the obligation for the parents make this option far from ideal. 


In response to these issues the group began to consider cooperative models to support transition, bringing families together to provide opportunity for socialization and shared responsibility for supervision.  Although the discussion did not allow for much development of this idea we did ultimately decide to lay out a basic framework and seek input from interested parents.   To this end please find below a very rough draft of a concept presentation for this model.

 Family Supported Cooperative Living for Persons with ASD 

Goal
To create quality cost effective housing options for high functioning people with ASD

Objectives
1. Bring together the resources (time and funding) from multiple families to support  group living opportunities for (3-6) persons with ASD

2.  Design a program that is family owned and operated that does not require licensure.

3.  Utilize as a property rental model.

4.  Facilitate access to as many natural and existing resources as possible.

 Method
1. Develop and implement governance policies, operations procedures and participation contracts.

2. Outline each family’s responsibility for the provision of supervision.

3. Seek charitable and church groups for on-going community based support of the cooperative (i.e. every other Sunday afternoon Grace Baptist provides a two hour outing for the residences)

4. Identify / develop orientation material and a basic behavior management training for family members providing supervision within the house.

Under each of these categories there are many details that would need to be worked out, however this frame work provides a point of departure for the consideration of this model.

It was noted by one of our group members that similar, yet smaller scale programs have often been developed by families in response to day care needs for younger children.  There is no question that this model would require considerable effort on the part of all involved, but effectively much less effort than parents attempting to provide services on their own.

Please let me know your thoughts and any interest you might have to work in the development of such a model.  For this type of program to work it must be client and family driven, although I and others from our group would be happy to support this endeavor its leadership would need to come from parent participants.

If you would be interested in attending an informational meeting about these creative housing opportunities and creating parent partnerships,  please contact: Laurie Raymond at lraymond@portresources.org  Telephone 828-0048 ext. 102.

Contact Information: For more information contact: 828-0048 x102