Self-Direction

Self-Direction empowers people with IDD and their families to design and manage services based on their individual needs and goals. Self- Direction supports the essence of community inclusion, and because the Self- Directed plan is created by the participant (person with IDD) and those the participant chooses to help, each Self-Direction plan is as unique as the participant who designed it. With assistance from an agency acting as a Fiscal Intermediary (FI), people control their own individualized, portable budgets, and may choose to hire and manage their own support staff. Self- Direction plans and budgets allow participants to access the supports needed to:

• live at home or in a home of their own, and if they choose, with a roommate,
• pursue interesting and meaningful employment, volunteer, or other community activities,
• engage in satisfying, productive relationships with family, friends, and community members, and
• maintain a healthy lifestyle.