Residential Options

The Institute’s residential services in Massachusetts offer a spectrum of options that range from specialized small-group homes that are designed to meet the needs of people with intense and comprehensive needs, to individualized shared living for those with an interest in establishing a close connection to a companion or family. For those who prefer greater autonomy and who need limited support, supervised independent living in their own home may be preferred.

Group Home Setting

Small group homes are an ideal setting for people who depend to some degree on others for company and companionship, and assistance in most aspects of life. Situated in good neighborhoods throughout the north central Worcester area, they provide fully staffed round the clock supports to three or four individuals. Residents have their own private bedrooms that they decorate as they wish with personal belongings, family photos, and memorabilia such as coffee mugs from Red Sox games, high school graduation pendants, and prizes won at Eastern State Exposition visits. People build their weekly schedules around the activities of daily living they need to accomplish, work or day program, plans for leisure activities, grocery shopping, outings with others, family visits and appointments. People form relationships with their staff who accompany them, and serves as liaisons with community-based health care providers, pharmacies, the local post office and dry cleaners, clubs and organizations such as Weight Watchers and the local gym or YMCA, and religious affiliations.

Residents annually construct their Individual Service Plans (ISPs) to spell out what areas of skill development they wish to focus on, and what parts of their lives they hope to change over the course of the next twelve months. Typically they may elect to broaden their leisure and recreational pursuits, meet new people and form new friendships, or work on personal health and wellness goals. Behavioral treatment plans help people target areas that may be barriers to participation in the community or to growth accomplishment in particular skill areas. People are assisted in keeping track of their progress by self-monitoring or counting on the observations of residential staff who take daily notes about targeted areas.                                                                                                                      

Group home living emphasizes the most important aspects of human development and functioning, among which are:                     

  • Safety and support in an environment that seeks to help people maximize their independence and autonomy;
  • Personal control of daily schedules and activities based on people’s interests and preferences;
  • Ongoing skill development that permits people to consider moving to increasingly more independent living arrangements;            
  • Personal satisfaction and happiness achieved in part from rewarding social connections;
  • Participation in a community of like-minded people at home and in activities in one’s neighborhood;
  • Connection and communication with one’s family and old friends;
  • Opportunities for personal growth and the experience of self-confidence;
  • The formation of stable interpersonal attachments and, for many, the benefits of a having a “second family.”

 

“To all of you who work with and care about Drew, thank you a million times over for your dedication and commitment to helping him make his life purposeful and enjoyable. It takes a special heart to work with people with the kind of disabilities Drew has. I feel blessed that he is surrounded by so many angels ready to give of themselves from their ‘special hearts.’”

-Drew’s sister, Louise

For more information about The Institute’s group home arrangements in Massachusetts, which are typically funded privately or by the Department of Developmental Services or the Department of Mental Health, be in touch with:

Lisa Lauretano, Director of Residential Services at (978) 343-8392 Email llauretano@ippi.org

Individual Service Option (ISO)

For many individuals, group home living serves as a spring board for launching a more independent kind of residential life via the Individual Service Option model. As they grow interested in leaving the group home model and moving to a smaller living arrangement, they create an opportunity for someone else to take advantage of group home living. Often, however, individuals are able to move directly to an ISO, perhaps following graduation from secondary school or from home. In either case, a comfortable home is shared with a caring and competent individual, family or couple who is professionally trained to meet the needs of someone with developmental disabilities.  ISO living is often referred to as “shared living,” or “adult foster care.” At The Institute in Massachusetts, great care and consideration, and often much time, are given to creating a match between the individual who has significant behavioral or medical challenges and the care provider. Personal styles, life histories and goals, and common interests dictate the process of finding just the right match.

People with disabilities who are involved in shared living frequently speak about the new experiences they’ve had (e.g., helping wash the family van; downhill skiing; vacationing on The Cape; enjoying support in weight loss by joining the gym with a provider; getting up late on Saturday mornings; going to the neighborhood church supper).

From the perspective of the ISO provider, the rewards are many:

  • The gratification of helping someone with disabilities reach goals that may have been otherwise unobtainable;
  • Being a respected member of a team of dedicated professionals;
  • The experience, often unexpected, of companionship and shared focus;
  • Financial security offered by the monthly stipend that is provided;
  • Acquisition of a new set of skills and competencies.

 

“My son David receives exceptional care from his shared living provider.”

-Carol, David’s mother and guardian

“The survey team members found excellent systems in place to assess, match and support individuals within ISO settings… Home providers themselves were very pleased with the levels of support and ongoing communication provided to them by agency staff.  Individuals were living in well-maintained homes and were observed fully engaged and participating in their local communities with the aid and support of their providers.”

-DMR Office of Quality Enhancement Report

For more information about The Institute’s Individual Service Option arrangements in Massachusetts, which are typically funded privately or by the Department of Developmental Services or the Department of Mental Health, be in touch with:

Lisa Lauretano, Director of Residential Services at (978) 343-8392 Email llauretano@ippi.org

Community-Based Day Supports

After young adults leave the world of school, several interesting options await them, whether they continue to live at home or move to group or other kinds of supported living arrangements. The Institute in Massachusetts offers, in addition to competitive employment support, three possibilities, each designed to meet the individual’s unique needs, interests and goals.

MILESTONES and NAVIGATOR are community-based, enrichment support options situated in central Fitchburg that serve as a busy and productive daytime base for individuals who are interested in increasing their adaptive, academic, and work skills, and maintaining a stable group of friends.  Being community-based doesn’t mean simply being located locally. It means focusing people’s attention on the social, emotional, and personal benefits of membership in one’s neighborhood. It means providing ways for people to acquire new skills that permit them to take their place comfortably and productively in the culture and life of a community.

People who participate in MILESTONES and NAVIGATOR are encouraged to volunteer at civic events in the greater Fitchburg area such as Red Cross blood drives, clean-ups at local parks, and charitable fund raisers. Some individuals may take on a job in-house. All use their Individual Support Plan and its objectives to guide their daily activities.

Every member of the MILESTONES and NAVIGATOR programs participates in clinical supports that help to expand their behavioral repertoires and increase their ease in navigating social interactions. Augmentative communication is a central focus of people’s lives, often included in individualized behavioral treatment plans that strengthen positive, healthy behavior and replace non-adaptive behavior with suitable alternatives.

STRIVES provides people with an opportunity for work-focused day activities and part-time supported employment while they continue to benefit from a range of clinical and educational supports. Small group and individual instruction helps people make progress quickly. Individuals who begin to participate in STRIVES typically see themselves as potential employees, and wish to learn both job skills as well as the behavioral and social skills they will need in order to be successful employees. They may start off in a job for which they have prepared in their high school prevocational training, and then improve their ability to do that kind of work part-time for a longer work day or week. Or, instead, they may expand the kinds of jobs they can apply for and hold. Direct support is provided throughout their work day by well-trained instructors. People work on mastering skills such as completing time sheets, dressing appropriately for work, communicating about work-related matters, reading, accepting constructive criticism, community safety and using the telephone. STRIVES offers people the chance to learn the components of a job in the community, rather than in a sheltered and sequestered site that may be quite different from an actual job location. People thus find it easier to be successful during the initial stages of their job careers. Early success leads to increased confidence and more enduring employment.

FOCUS is a very specialized community-based day program for individuals who have sensory challenges such as deafness, blindness or deaf-blindness caused by Rubella syndrome, congenital problems or developmental illness. The philosophical bedrock of FOCUS is the recognition that sensory disruptions complicate or interfere with development. Intense and focused emphasis on communication and the establishment of reciprocal interpersonal relationships smoothes the individual’s way toward achieving intellectual and social competence and modulating behavioral responses to a confusing and sometimes frightening world.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) is a mode of communication other than speech. It can include low-tech aids such as a picture communication book or a picture activity schedule, or high-tech systems such as voice-output devices. Learning to use “natural gestures,” eye contact, body language and other non-verbal communicative acts opens up social possibilities and permits individuals with sensory difficulties to engage in interpersonal relationships, to make friends, and influence their worlds.

Behavioral support using applied behavioral analysis permits individuals to acquire control over their environment while they reduce behavioral responses such as self-injury that may be harmful to their health, or disruption of the environment that inhibits their access to their communities.

The combination of AAC and behavioral treatment in a highly individualized small-group setting makes it possible for people who participate in FOCUS to achieve significant successes in all areas of living. Funding is provided privately or by the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind or The Department of Mental Retardation/Developmental Services.

For information about The Institute’s Day Programs, be in touch with:
Laura Graves, Director of Day Services, at (978) 343-8392 Email lgraves@ippi.org

Vocational Supports
Job Path

The Institute many years ago became impressed by the number of competent people receiving services from The Department of Mental Retardation who were not given the opportunity of working. What was missing?

Expectations of success in the world of work

  • Bold ideas about how to mobilize communities around training and public transportation
  • Training supports that were available on the job, not in sheltered workshops that were isolated from the mainstream where the real jobs were
  • Behavioral supports that emphasized how to act with coworkers and bosses, how to ask for a raise, how to call in sick, or how to request a schedule change
  • Technical supports in resume writing and applying for jobs, understanding benefits and paying income taxes
  • Ways to help school systems meet their responsibilities for helping near-graduation students prepare for work

 

Job Path is the outcome of analyzing what was needed to help people prepare for, find, and keep good jobs, and of ongoing collaboration with the Department of Mental Retardation/Developmental Services. Job Path is more a movement than a program. It demonstrates The Institute’s commitment to helping workers experience the values -- financial, psychological, social -- of competitive employment. Job Path employment specialists are both solid advocates for employees and skilled job coaches who evaluate an individual’s interests, aptitudes and abilities, first, and then assist the prospective employee in an active and focused job search. They help the individual prepare a resume that puts one’s best foot forward, and coach the applicant on how best to present one’s self at the job interview. Once a job has been landed, they work side-by-side with the new employee so that mastering both the technical aspects of the job and the social requirements of the work environment occurs. People learn how to be independent on the job, how to ask for needed help, and how to evaluate one’s performance. Often with one’s job coach an employee participates in routine reviews in order to gain information about how to improve areas of performance, thus also learning how to deal with constructive criticism. Job Path has an enviable reputation throughout The Commonwealth as a support that helps employees make good wages, increase their hours, expand job duties, retain employment, and achieve satisfaction and advancement at work.

“I love my job – the way you can connect with people. And I like being able to work hard and be appreciated.”

-Karen D., elementary school administrative assistant

 

“The agency’s commitment to the value of employment is very evident.  The ongoing success of JOB PATH in helping individuals to secure and maintain long term employment, including support to use public transportation where feasible, is commendable.”    

Department of Developmental Services, Office of
Quality Enhancement Licensure and Certification Report

 

“I love the people I work with. I feel good about myself because I’m working and can take a vacation. I love seeing my job coach and want the Job Path program to keep going.”

Bernie L., grocery store employee

“I like having a pay check and seeing the kids. It gives me something to do for someone and I like having a job, just like everyone else.”

Linda K., elementary school bus monitor

Job Path services are funded privately or by the Commonwealth’s Department of Developmental Services. For more information be in touch with:

Michelle Cutting, Project Director (978) 343-8392 Email macutting@ippi.org