We all need a place to call “home.” What options are available for people who have disabilities in New York State? What supports are available? 
Living at home with family or living independently
Community Habilitation : Need help with learning to make your bed, practicing fire safety, or communicating with a cashier while shopping? Community Habilitation is a service you can get at home and in the community that provides staff to help you learn and keep the skills you need to live safely and more independently, meet people and make and keep friends, take part in community activities, and be part of your community. Community habilitation can be either self-directed or run by an agency.

Environmental Modifications include physical changes made to your home that can help you live safely in your home and get out into the community. Maybe a ramp or a new water faucet control is what you need to access your home.

Live-in Caregiver: If you live independently and share your home with another person who supports you to live independently, you may qualify for live-in caregiver services. These services provide room and board costs for the live-in caregiver. The live-in caregiver must be unrelated to you and must stay with you in your home or go out with you and make sure you stay safe and well.

Paid Neighbor: Do you have a neighbor who is often willing to help out? If you self-direct your services, OPWDD will support you to live independently and to choose a neighbor who is paid to be on-call and help you if you need help once in a while because of a problem or to do certain tasks.
Certified Residential Opportunities
Certified homes offer different levels of support to people who have greater needs. The Certified Residential Opportunities (CRO) protocol is used to determine need for certified homes.

Family Care: OPWDD supports you to live in a family’s private home. This family care home is certified and the family care provider will make sure that you have the help you need to be safe and active, and to do the things that families do, like eating together and spending time together. For further information, click here .

Individualized Residential Alternatives (IRAs): In an IRA, OPWDD supports you to live in a certified home in the community with a small number of other people with developmental disabilities. The agency that runs the home will make sure that there are staff there to meet your needs and the needs of the other people living in the home.
Managing housing costs
OPWDD supports people with developmental disabilities to live as independently in the community as possible by helping with housing costs. This help comes in the form of a housing subsidy. If you ask for a housing subsidy, the amount of your housing subsidy will be decided using a formula that takes into account the county you live in, the number of people who will be living in your home, the number of bedrooms in your home and some other things. You are expected to contribute a percentage of your income towards your housing costs. 
For information about housing supports and residential opportunities, contact:


Self-Advocates' perspective on housing options
"We want to live in homes of our choice. We want the services that we need to live in that home as independently as possible. For some of us that means a certified group home but for many it doesn’t. We ask that NYS continue to invest in independent and affordable housing options for people with developmental disabilities. We also ask that traditional group home opportunities are available to those who need them in a timely manner. We want to live in the least restrictive place that can meet our needs and we want to be valued members of our communities. We ask NYS to invest at least as much in supporting new independent settings as it is in developing new certified group homes."

From Self-Advocacy Association of New York State (SANYS) https://sanys.org/what-we-do/views-and-positions/
Speaking up for your housing rights
Here are just a few of the advocacy organizations in NYS that advocate for access to housing for people who have disabilities.

NY Association for Independent Living - NYAIL works to improve the quality of life and safeguard the rights of people who have disabilities.

The Most Integrated Setting Coordinating Council - MISCC is responsible for developing a comprehensive statewide plan to ensure that people of all ages who have physical and mental disabilities receive care and services in the most integrated settings appropriate to their individual needs.

Consumer Directed Choices - CDC's mission is to provide and advance community-based supports to promote self-determination for people who have disabilities and their families.

Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program - This Medicaid program provides services to chronically ill or physically disabled individuals who have a medical need for help with activities of daily living (ADLs) or skilled nursing services.

Free assistance with transitioning from a nursing facility or institutional care to the community.

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The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.  

Maya Angelou


Additional Resources


Community Connections Registry – Looking for a roommate, someone with similar interests or a way to ride share? The Registry is the place to make connections


NHRC Financial Resources – page down to “Helpful briefings on resources”




“What Happens when I’m Gone?” - a companion to the Housing Resource Guide

Report to the Housing Task Force – issues that affect people throughout the state

The Shared Living Toolkit – essential guidance for people with I/DD, their families and provider agencies 

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