Westchester Institute for Human Development
In 2012, Westchester Institute for Human Development (WIHD) was awarded a grant by the Organization for Autism Research (OAR) Applied Research program to create a Resource Guide for families seeking housing for their adult sons and daughters with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (ASD/I-DD) in Westchester County, New York.
In 2014, WIHD received additional funding through a Community grant awarded by Autism Speaks to augment the original work, and to lay the groundwork for a Housing Navigator curriculum that could train professionals to help people with ASD-I/DD find housing. The creation of this guide was supported, in part, through these generous grants.
Creating sustainable housing options can be daunting, we do not have all of the answers, and we welcome questions and comments and any other feedback.
What Is Shared Living?
There is no single definition of shared living. Most definitions share common elements:
- Persons with and without disabilities share their lives, especially in their domiciliary arrangements.
- Typically, the person without a disability provides supports to the person with a disability, although the extent and nature of those supports vary widely.
- Shared living is not a “placement” of one person into another’s home. It is a mutually agreed upon living arrangement.
- For purposes of this Tool Kit, shared living encompasses both persons who live together in the same four walls and those who live quite near to one another (e.g. in adjacent apartments). These are referred to as live-with and live-near support arrangements.
Shared living, again for purposes of this tool kit, may be provided in properties that are:
- Controlled by the person receiving supports (or their families/guardians).
- Controlled by the person providing supports.
- Controlled by an agency. Each of these options has wage and hour, tax and HCBS waiver implications, which are explored in this document.
Opening the Door to Your Own Home by John Maltby
Report to the Housing Task Force from Westchester Institute for Human Development and NYSACRA
Social Contract for OAR guide ~ provided by John Maltby
Getting Along ~ provided by Bob and Cynthia Laux
New York Housing Resource Center (HRC) ~ Welcome to the New York Housing Resource Center (HRC) for people with intellectual / developmental disabilities, a central depository for housing & housing-related services & resources.
The link to 2016 NYSACRA (New York State Associate of Community and Residential Agencies)Toolkit for Providing Shared Living in New York: www.nysacra.org/docs/Shared_Living_Tool_Kit_Report_new.pdf