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Residential Options

Enhanced Family Care

When an individual with disabilities needs a comfortable home she or he can share with a caring and competent individual, couple or family, The Institute can make that happen. Using a model often referred to as “shared living,” or “adult foster care,” we carefully match individuals, based on needs, interests, preferences and goals, with Enhanced Family Care Providers who wish to share their homes with individuals needing special kinds of support so they can live in the community. It takes great care and thoughtfulness to create a match between persons with complicated medical and behavioral issues and the right home care providers able to meet those needs. Providers must have either the existing skills and values to support individuals with extraordinary challenges, or the potential, with training, to develop these skills.

Creating a successful match requires that The Institute:

• Develop a comprehensive understanding of the individual’s history, critical needs and routine, likes and dislikes, and preferences for a living situation
• Identify the skills and training a provider must have in order to be successful in supporting an individual
• Use our network of professional colleagues and creative recruitment strategies to find a top-notch home provider
• Choose a provider who has the skills, or can be trained, to provide essential supports
• Help with introductions and the critical early transitional stages of building a trusting and comfortable relationship that will last

Sustaining that successful match involves:

• Planning – to articulate clear goals and outline the steps to achieve those goals, including personal care, health maintenance, daily routines, enriching weekend and vacation activities, and strategies to handle a crisis
• Monitoring progress – to help the individual, home provider, and support team track progress toward the goals, and make course corrections as needed
• Providing flexible, 24/7 staff response – to solve problems, no matter what they involve, or when and where they occur

“In my whole 46 years of being my sister’s guardian, I’ve never had someone as good as IPP’s staff, and I’ve worked with about 100 different people….and I have
high expectations. They try hard and don’t give up. Some places are so company-oriented. At IPP, Karen’s interest always came first. She had to enter an assisted
living home for health reasons, but if she’s able to come back into the community I will request that IPP be involved again.”
                                                                         -Christine Gabriel, Karen’s sister and guardian

 

Individualized Home Staffing Arrangements for Adults

Sometimes people with disabilities have found a living space that is comfortable and suits them well. It may be a home they own or rent. Upon request, The Institute works with these individuals and their family members and guardians to develop individualized staff arrangements, in which staff come into the home when the person needs help with a variety of activities of daily living such as scheduling appointments with a dentist, cooking dinner, routine shopping, or weekly house-cleaning. Sometimes just a few hours of staff support is desired; in other cases, round-the-clock specialized services are preferred.

The process of choosing staff is a joint venture shared among the individual, his/her family, and IPP. The interests, preferences and special needs of the person determine the criteria that are used to recruit and interview candidates. Once the staff member is hired, IPP managers provide training and supervision, making sure that s/he is performing all of the tasks that the individual has requested. The goal of this collaboration between the individual and IPP is a smooth-running household with a pleasant atmosphere that supports the individual’s health and community membership.

“Richie has enjoyed IPP’s support for about 10 years. Over those years he has matured as a person, learned to manage his emotions and gained new respect for himself and others. The IPP staff is ethical, creative, caring and resourceful. Before we teamed up with IPP, there were problems around every bend in his road toward independence. Richie still needs personal guidance and case management, but he is living his life on his terms with IPP’s support. In a world that’s not very supportive of people with disabilities, IPP has been not just a great source of support, but of real friendship to Rich and to us.”
                                                                         -Dick and Helen Quinlan, Rich’s parents and guardians

“In my experience, the quality of Lori’s life is so dependent on how the people she spends time with are trained and supported. IPP is particularly good at supporting the staff who provide direct care. The program manager comes over to Lori’s house supposedly to “have coffee,” but I know she’s really modeling for the support staff ways to be with Lori that are helpful. The program manager is very present in Lori’s life. She knows when a situation needs immediate attention.”
                                                                         -Sue Fox, Lori’s mother  

Community-Based Day Options

The Institute in New Hampshire offers adults with disabilities customized services that contain a well-planned, rich and varied schedule of activities. Activities are individualized to appeal to people’s interests and preferences, and provided in such a way that people’s daily experiences within their neighborhoods and communities are meaningful and facilitate active participation. Among the goals shared by people who are engaged in day services are:

• Formation and strengthening of social relationships
• Development of adaptive skills that permit increased membership and involvement
• Broadening of hobbies, vocational interests, social interests and recreational pursuits
• Contribution to one’s neighborhood through joining civic, fraternal, health and religious clubs

Thus people design their activity schedules and routines so that they go well beyond “filling time". Pleasure and fun, learning new skills, getting out and about, practicing recently acquired skills to proficiency, meeting new people and getting healthy exercise are the desired outcomes of membership in The Institute’s day programs. As people become more comfortable making connections and building friendships in the community, The Institute’s staff help them with self-advocacy and exercising their legal rights.

                                           Widely recognized for their excellence, IPP’s day programs emphasize three key principles:

• Focus on Growth --  The schedule of activities each person/team builds is highly customized and continuously adapted as the individual learns, grows, faces new challenges and develops new interests
• Excellence in staff support - Depth of support staffing ensures that activities are rarely cancelled. If one staff person is out sick, for example, others, including managers, fill in, so that the continuity and richness of the individual’s day is not compromised
• Direction and Supervision - Supervisory support to staff is especially strong, so employees experience prompt, helpful and encouraging back-up. Because staff feel buoyed up by their supervisors, IPP’s staff retention rates far exceed the norm. Individuals feel secure and can count on their staff-companions; their days go smoothly without the kinds of disappointments and disruptions that can result in tension and discord.

“Karen’s life has changed so much. She’s more her own person. She’s developing the ability to make choices. She can say “no.” She never said “no” before. She goes to hockey and baseball games, does her own laundry, goes out to lunch to her favorite places, and likes to have staff read to her. She lives living with Lynn and is really attached to Lynn’s kids. The kids love her too. The IPP people seem to always like Karen. I can feel it with everybody who works with her. They say it takes a village. This has been her village."
-Lena Odesse, Karen’s mother and guardian

To learn more about Enhanced Family Care, Individualized Home Staffing Arrangements, and Community-Based Day Options, which are typically funded by local developmental disabilities agencies or private pay, please contact:

Twin Rivers Associates
Day Program

Twin River Associates is a lively, highly regarded day program for adults with disabilities fondly known, in and around the town of Exeter, as “TRA.” Participants come from throughout the Seacoast area to enjoy a variety of employment, volunteer, artistic, social and other life-expanding activities. TRA is open from 9 to 3 on weekdays. Its hallmark can be captured in two words: “high expectations".

The hours are flexible: members may choose to come for all 30 hours each week, or just a few.

The activities are varied: some take place in the community, but there is always a pleasant place to “chill out” when folks are tired or just need a relaxing place to grab a snack, listen to music, check in with friends, shoot some pool, work on the computer, or plan the next week’s schedule.

The opportunities are many: each person exercises choice. Community volunteering? The arts? Exercise? Acquiring job skills to earn money? Cooking with friends? Starting a painting that could be selected for inclusion in next year’s art auction? Gardening? Working a shift for “Twin Rivers Delivers,” our errand service?

“Our clients can’t wait to get there. They are always busy doing fun and creative things, and in TRA’s volunteer program, they give back to the community. The individuals who participate are all doing different things that reflect their own interests and goals. This is one of the strongest day programs in existence. The staff have high expectations and at the same time, they’re very gentle and supportive. People have made big turnarounds once they’ve started attending TRA. TRA rocks!”
-Paula Mirasola and Kathy Dowd, Service Coordinators, One Sky Community Services

“I really like being a part of Twin Rivers Delivers, taking day-old baked goods from the grocery store to the senior center and doing errands for people who need it. I love all the friends I’ve made at TRA and the staff. I keep a journal there. I do it first thing in the morning and I do it on my own. I’m doing more every day – food shopping and making lasagna.”
-Justin Melanson, Twin Rivers Associates

“The Twin Rivers program has brought happiness and worthwhileness to my son. He loves being with people with a positive attitude, who know he is an asset. The people at TRA know he has a lot going for him. Once he understands that, he gains self-confidence. He is a very capable person.”
-Mike Melanson, Justin’s father and guardian 

 Whether at home with family or imersed in his TRA activities
in the community, Justin's humor and spirit are evident.

Pictured: Justin Melanson

“My entire family would agree that Tom’s experience at TRA opened up a whole world for him. He considered TRA his home away from home and his work, which he took seriously. He never wanted to miss a day. Everyone there got to know him personally, and this brought out his sense of humor. He was valued and respected and truly made lifelong friends. I remember riding up High Street one day and seeing him delivering papers and I thought ‘Oh my gosh, look at what he’s capable of! Our family came to realize that he had been underestimated all his life, until he found TRA. One of Tom’s dreams was to fly on an airplane. TRA staff advocated strongly for this, found someone willing to accompany him, and helped find funds for him to travel to Florida. What a high point! We were so glad he had wonderful experiences like this before he died. I was so affected by the difference TRA made in Tom’s life that, when my child entered school, I approached them for a job. I wanted to make that kind of difference in someone’s life. I now work there, in this place where people make choices about what they do, and have a sense of purpose and belonging. That’s really what we all want, isn’t it?”
-Cathy Gleason, Tom’s sister

Participants may be funded at TRA through local developmental disabilities agencies or private pay. To learn more about TRA please contact:
Jan Knox, Program Coordinator (603) 772-5991