Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and

Developmental Disabilities

Housing Vision PaperNovember 2013

Overview

• Purpose• Service Delivery Framework• Values• Guidance from Olmstead and ADA• Characteristics of Georgia’s Future

Housing Continuum

Purpose

• Communication of Vision• Activate Dialogue, Innovation and

Investment• Underscore our Commitment to

Promoting Access to Safe, Decent and Affordable Housing

• Clarity About Long-Term Goals

Service Delivery Framework in Georgia

• Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities and Behavioral Health

• Different Funding Streams and Services• Common Focus

• Services Driven by Individualized Plan• Person-Centered Approach • Individual Needs, Abilities and Strengths

Recovery and Independence

• Recovery is a process of change through which an individual improves health and wellness and lives a self-directed life

• Independence – achieving one’s full potential and leads to freedom and a meaningful life.

• Self-direction, wellness, choice, meaningful

Values

• Housing is Essential to Recovery and Independence

• Informed Choice Anchors Selection of Housing Options

• Access to a Full Continuum of Housing Options is Fundamental

• Successful Living Arrangements are Integrated in Local Communities

Values In Action

• Consumers as Tenants with Full Freedom, Choice, and Privacy

• Serrices and Supports are Not Restrictive or Regimented

Values in Action

• Striving for Targets to Promote Increased Integration• Goup Homes have no more than 4

individuals • Scattered-Site Living with 20% or less

receiving Supported Housing

Current Supported Housing

• Dedicated providers offer many current placements throughout the state

• Individuals are successfully living in communities in arrangements that promote recovery and independence

• Options and Choices are Limited• Continuum needs Expansion• Resource Limits

Olmstead and ADA

• Olmstead -- Unnecessary segregation of people with disabilities in institutions may constitute discrimination based on disability

• Title II of ADA requires that public entities deliver services, programs and activities in the most integrated setting appropriate to meet the needs of qualified individuals with disabilities.

Settlement Agreement - BH

• By July 1, 2015, the State will have the capacity to provide Supportive Housing to any of the 9,000 persons in the target population who need such support.

Settlement Agreement - BH

• Supported Housing includes scattered site as well as apartments clustered in a single building. By July 1, 2015, 50% of Supported Housing units shall be provided in scattered-site housing, which requires that no more than 20% of the units in one building or no more than 2 units in one building (whichever is greater), may be used to provide Supported Housing under this agreement.

Short-Term Challenges

• Housing for individuals covered by Settlement Agreement with U.S. Department of Justice by July 1, 2015

• All people with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities who are living in state hospitals must be transitioned to community settings

• Capacity to serve any of the approximately 9,000 with serious and persistent mental illness who need Supported Housing

Future

• Wide array of high quality options for permanent housing is available statewide

• Stabilized living arrangements are available to support clinical needs

• Community participation is evident• Service Providers are anchored in

Strengths-Based Approach that seeks to find and develop Homes that facilitate Recovery and Independence

Future

• Services and Housing are Flexibly Connected• Receipt of Services is not a

Condition of Housing• People can be continuously

supported as needs and preferences change

Future

• Support Recovery and Independence• Maintain Focus on the Individual’s

Needs and Choices• Provide a Wider Array of Options and

Choices within the Continuum• Ability to Move Within Continuum =

Portability of Housing Supports and Services

Challenges

http://dbhdd.ga.gov

cagault@dbhdd.ga.gov