Transcript Got Housing? - Maryland Transitioning Youth

Got Housing?
Mary Scott
Transition Resource Teacher
Baltimore County Public Schools
& Annie’s mom
Diane Dressler
Program Director for Adult Training and Services
Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities
at Kennedy Krieger Institute
www.kennedykrieger.org
Vision
People with disabilities control where and with whom
they live.
All people live in inclusive communities.
People with disabilities choose the persons who will
best support them to meet their goals and needs.
Environments support the person.
www.kennedykrieger.org
Steps towards the vision
Step #1: Apply for SSI upon young adult’s
18th birthday
– Include copies of all evaluations, assessments, school records
related to disability. Make sure that the diagnosis is clear.
– Describe the young adult on his or her WORST day.
Benefits Information/Counseling:
- Local Center for Independent Living (CIL)
- Maryland Department of Disabilities
www.mdod.maryland.gov/Disability%20Benefits%20Home.aspx
www.kennedykrieger.org
Steps towards the vision
Step #2: Apply for Housing Choice Voucher
(Section 8) when young adult is 18.
• Apply at the public housing agency where the young adult lives
and/or works:
www.huduser.org/portal/datasets/fmr.html
• Provide a secondary contact: family member, resource
coordinator.
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Identify applicant as a person with a disability.
• Notify housing office if you move.
www.kennedykrieger.org
And more about Section 8 housing
Prepare to wait!
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Steps towards the vision
Step #3: Establish credit
– Open a checking and savings account.
• Not reported to credit bureaus but vital for lender consideration
– Apply for credit card, personal loans.
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Apply for unsecured credit first
Don’t apply for several credit cards at one time
Use credit card for small purchases and pay off each month
If denied, apply for secured credit
– Designate young adult as an authorized user on the parent’s
account.
– Put utilities in young adult’s name.
– Open a separate cell phone account for young adult.
– Have young adult pay for room and board with a check, provide a
receipt and track payments.
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Steps towards the vision
Step #4: Make a budget
- List all income
– List all expenses
– Include savings
– Be careful not to exceed the asset and resource limit for SSI
eligibility.
Wells Fargo Budget Sheet
www.wellsfargo.com/pdf/credit_center/ccr_creditworksheet.pdf
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Steps towards the vision
Step #6: Determine your housing strategy
• Family home
• Group home
• Individual family care
• Rented room, apartment or house
• Purchase home
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Steps toward the vision
Step #6: Determine your housing strategy
• Shared home
• Informal arrangement with family or friends
• Residential supports through MHA
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Family home
• In-home supports
– DDA: www.ddamaryland.org
– Medicaid Personal Care Program:
www.dhmh.state.md.us/mma/longtermcare/html/Medicaid%20
Personal%20Care.htm
• Environmental modifications
– MD Technical Assistance Program: www.mdtap.org
– Dept. of Rehabilitation Services: www.dors.state.md.us
– Dept. of Housing and Community Development:
www.dhcd.maryland.gov/Website/Default.aspx
Local governments
www.kennedykrieger.org
Group home
• Also called Alternative Living Unit (3 or fewer unrelated
persons).
• Services are funded by DDA – housing is NOT.
• Controlled by service provider (owned or leased).
• Choice limitations
– Where to live
– With whom to live.
• DDA: www.ddamaryland.org
www.kennedykrieger.org
Individual Family Care (IFC)
• Residential service through DDA.
• Person lives with a caregiver in the caregiver’s home.
• Caregiver is trained to provide supports.
• Similar to adult foster care.
• DDA: www.ddamaryland.org
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Renting
• Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8)
• Will provide an extra bedroom (no additional rent) for a live-in
care giver if medical documentation supports the need.
• Section 8 Made Simple:
www.tacinc.org/downloads/Sect8_2ndEd.pdf
• Public Housing through local public housing agency
– Some counties have this, some don’t.
• Project-based rental assistance
www.kennedykrieger.org
Finding affordable rental housing
• MD Housing Search
www.mdhousingsearch.org
• Go Section 8
www.gosection8.com
• Realtors, newspapers, Craig’s List
• Local housing office (if you have received a voucher)
www.kennedykrieger.org
Renter’s insurance
• Most landlords require a tenant to have renter’s
insurance. This is for tenant’s and landlord’s protection.
• Covers household contents.
• Typical cost is $5-40 per month depending on coverage
amount, deductible and location.
• Ask family and friends for recommendations.
Explanation of renter’s insurance:
www.geico.com/information/aboutinsurance/renters
www.kennedykrieger.org
Home ownership
• Owning a home does not affect Medicaid, SSI or SSDI
benefits!!
– Paying roommate is allowable – roommate contribution cannot
be more than 50% of expenses (mortgage, utilities and food).
• Homeownership for Individuals with Disabilities Program
www.dhcd.maryland.gov/Website/programs/hidp/Default.aspx
www.kennedykrieger.org
House sharing
• Paying roommate.
• Supports in lieu of rent.
• Live-in caregiver
– Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8)
– DDA Waiver – pays additional rent incurred for care giver
bedroom at Fair Market Rent value.
Fair Market Rent Information (also useful for Housing Choice
Voucher program)
www.huduser.org/portal/datasets/fmr.html
www.kennedykrieger.org
Informal arrangements
• Some families create their own in-home support
system using family and community resources.
– Use personal resources, friends, faith-based community –
whatever it takes.
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Residential supports through Mental Hygiene
Administration
• Anyone accessing MHA resources needs to have
Medical Assistance.
• Each county has a Core Service Agency that helps
people find resources.
MHA Website
http://dhmh.maryland.gov/mha
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If you find a good solution
and become attached to it,
the solution may become
your next problem.
Dr. Robert Anthony
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Finding Support Staff
• Write a job description which includes information
about your interests and activities as well as what
you need from a support person.
• Expect your support person to pass a criminal
background check and drug test and to have a good
driving record, if driving is included in the job.
• Ask for personal references.
www.kennedykrieger.org
More about finding support staff….
• Send the job description to everyone you know!
•
Look first in your own community
(colleges – friends - schools attended –churches social groups - fraternal organizations)
before advertising on the Internet or in the paper.
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And still more….
• Ask a trusted person to screen calls from interested
persons.
• Interview interested persons in a public place; invite a
friend or family member to join you.
• Consider spending time with job applicants before
committing to hiring.
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And now the fun part!
• If you receive DDA-funded services, ask about
start-up funds for furnishing your home.
• Ask family and friends to help you gather furniture,
kitchen items, linens and accessories.
• Check thrift stores, consignment shops and auctions
for great deals.
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Make your space beautiful!
Your home should reflect your personality.
Choose the colors you like best.
Hang your favorite pictures.
Enjoy your new space!
Furnishing a home: www.indobase.com
Supplying a kitchen: www.chefhome.com
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A furniture and life lesson….
Arrange whatever pieces
come your way!
Virginia Woolf
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Resources On the Web
• Kennedy Krieger Resource Finder
http://resourcefinder.kennedykrieger.org
• Maryland Community Services Locator
www.mdcsl.org
• Assistive Technology
www.mdod.maryland.gov/MTAP%20Home.aspx
• Housing and Disability Services Resource Guide
http://dhmh.maryland.gov/mha/Miscellaneous/what'snew/Resource%20
Guide%20Update%202011%20final_online.pdf
www.kennedykrieger.org
Contact Information
Mary E. Scott
Diane Dressler
Baltimore County Public Schools
410-821-1082
[email protected]
Maryland Center for Developmental
Disabilities at Kennedy Krieger
Institute
443-923-9555
[email protected]
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www.kennedykrieger.org
At first people refuse to believe
that a strange new thing can be done,
then they begin to hope that it can be done,
then they see it can be done –
then it is done
and all the world wonders
why it was not done
centuries ago.
Frances Hodgson Burnett
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