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(7.1) How do I decide where to live?

(7.1) How do I decide where to live?

Your preferences, choices, and wishes are the starting point for deciding where you will live. Deciding where you want to live is part of the planning process for your Individual Program Plan (IPP). 

People with developmental disabilities live in a range of settings. These go from least restrictive (like independent living) to most restrictive (like large, locked facilities or hospitals). Other living arrangements in-between those include living with your parent or relative, with another family, or in a small group home. You do not have to move through each one before you are ready for a more integrated or less restrictive one. The goal of the Lanterman Act is for people with developmental disabilities to live like people of the same age without developmental disabilities.[1]The Lanterman Act says that services and supports should be available to enable persons with developmental disabilities to approximate the pattern of everyday living available to people without … Continue reading People without disabilities live in the homes and communities they choose, so people with developmental disabilities should also live that way. This chapter mostly talks about options to live in the community. It does not talk as much about living in very restrictive settings.

References
1 The Lanterman Act says that services and supports should be available to enable persons with developmental disabilities to approximate the pattern of everyday living available to people without disabilities of the same age. Section 4501. Persons with developmental disabilities have the same legal rights and responsibilities guaranteed all other individuals by the United States Constitution and laws and the Constitution and laws of the State of California, including the right to make choices in their own lives, including where and with whom they live. Section 4502(a) and (b)(10). Persons with developmental disabilities have a right to treatment and habilitation services and supports in the least restrictive environment necessary to accomplishing the purposes of those services, and services should foster the developmental potential of the person and be directed toward the achievement of the most independent, productive, and normal life possible. Section 4502(b).