Teenagers with a disability, and their families, have much to consider during the transition to adulthood.
One of the most important and complex decisions to make is regarding home and living arrangements.
To navigate this journey, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) offers Individualised Living Options (ILO) to participants. ILO allows participants to explore and design specific home and living arrangements to suit their specific needs. ILO service providers can also provide assistance to design and fund an ILO.
As part of ILO, participants choose where they want to live, who they want to live with, and what support arrangements best suit them.
During the ILO planning process, participants will consider what informal support arrangements they would like, and the planning process will focus on strengthening those supports.
An ILO may look like:
- Host Arrangement – participants live full time with a person or family (host), who is not related to them. The host provides a safe and welcoming home and the help they need.
- Housemates / Co-Resident – participants live full time with people who provide care, help and companionship.
- Mentors – a small team of paid supports, exclusive to the participant, who spend extended periods of time providing direct and indirect support.
Once an ILO has been designed, participants can then have the arrangement funded by the NDIS and begin putting supports in place.
Community members can also be engaged in ILO! Is there a particular activity / task you may be able to assist with? Do you have a spare room and capacity to provide companionship and support? Are you able to consider becoming a housemate or mentor for a participant?
If you are a community member who would like to be involved, or are a participant who wants to explore the home and living options available to you, then please reach out to the MADEC team, we would be more than happy to assist you.
Contact us at www.madec.org.au to discuss how we can assist you. Our friendly team are ready to help!
