Programs for disabled adults offer assistance in finding jobs, housing and other essential resources they require, including legal assistance and refurbishing medical equipment such as wheelchairs.
Community Habilitation programs provide tailored assistance for adults living at home with intellectual disabilities. Staff help with everyday activities like cooking, cleaning and transportation.
Attendant Services
Many disabled adults require daily assistance with bathing, dressing and eating tasks from family members; however, it’s also essential that they know there are programs available that can provide this assistance.
Attendant Services is one such program, providing home care attendants to people with severe disabilities who require assistance with activities of daily living, such as dressing or cooking meals or taking medications. Their goal is to enable individuals to remain living at home instead of entering long term care facilities.
This program requires participants to meet federal disability criteria. It assists people in covering medical costs, food and shelter. Coverage may include doctor’s visits, lab work and X-rays, prescriptions, equipment supplies and transportation; higher education or job training could even be included! There are additional state and federal programs that offer essentials as well as tools that make job searching simpler.
Housing
Disabled adults often face difficulty finding affordable housing. Their incomes often make renting too costly for them, leaving them at risk of institutionalization or homelessness. To address this problem, the federal government offers several housing programs aimed at disabled adults; including public housing and disability-specific vouchers.
HUD manages the nation’s public housing agencies, which own and operate apartment buildings or townhouses for low-income residents. Residents pay part of their income toward rent with the rest covered by government subsidy; eligibility requirements generally include having household income below certain thresholds as well as meeting disability criteria listed under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Some states, counties and local towns also provide HUD disability housing assistance programs for families including disabled adults and children. These programs often provide them with rental assistance vouchers; qualifying individuals may also qualify for Section 8 income based apartments or homes. OPWDD also has resources available that can assist people with disabilities find affordable housing solutions in NYC.
Employment
As companies become more diverse, employers are realizing the numerous advantages associated with hiring individuals with disabilities can bring. Yet despite these clear benefits of inclusion, some remain reluctant to make necessary investments.
Employers of employees with disabilities typically report higher employee retention rates, lower absenteeism rates and more consistent work quality than non-disabled employees. Furthermore, many display strong pride and motivation to put in long hours at their job.
OPWDD’s Employment Training Program (ETP) offers wage subsidies to increase employment participation of disabled adults. All applicants for eligibility and job readiness are pre-screened before being supported by trained job coaches.
Disability Rights Legal Center and Cancer Legal Resource Center are charitable organizations providing legal assistance for those in need. For more information, visit their websites or call their offices directly.
Hourly Waiver Respite
Caregiver Relief Service provides families/caregivers a temporary respite from the primary caregiving responsibilities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Their loved ones participate in activities of their choice while having 24-hour access to support staff – either at home or day programs settings. Meals and medications are provided free of charge by certified staff who have their medication passed over by an RN supervisor.
Overnight respite care can be found in freestanding respite homes, which offer barrier free living environments while still providing comfortable family-oriented environments. These services are offered throughout Oakland and Wayne Counties.
Many states offer voucher programs that pay for respite services on an ongoing basis. To find out more, conduct an Internet search for “respite voucher programs” in your state; if no results appear, reach out to Easterseals MORC office where our trained team can assist in finding any possible funding resources available to you.
