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Housing & Community Living

Addressing the housing needs for youth with disabilities is greater than just finding places for them to live. It’s also involves developing daily living skills, setting up adult services for daily living needs, and finding “belonging” in the community. The Medicaid Innovations Waiver is the main funding source for adult services to support community living.

Find Housing and Community Living Resources

Acronym Key: MCO = Managed Care organization | Pre-ETS = Pre Employment Transition Services | IDD = Intellectual and Developmental Disability

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Add Housing and Community Living Items to My Action Plan

Build your Action Plan by selecting relevant items below to add goals for yourself or someone you support. Click “Add to Action Plan” to save items. Your selections from all categories will appear in “My Action Plan.” To remove an item, click “Remove from Action Plan.”

Build your Action Plan by selecting relevant items below to add goals for yourself or someone you support. Click “Add to Action Plan” to save items. To remove an item, click “Remove from Action Plan.” To see your Action Plan, click on the “View My Action Plan” button to the right or near the bottom of the page.

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Browse all recommended action items below or use these filters to narrow down results by category or age.

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23 results found

Preparing for Community Living
Explore natural support resources to help develop an individual’s social network.

Approximate age: 13 and ongoing

Who can help: Individual, Family/Guardian, and Transition Facilitator/IEP Team

Preparing for Community Living
Utilize resource mapping tools to gain awareness of local resources.

Approximate age: 13 and ongoing

Who can help: Individual, Family/Guardian, and Transition Facilitator/IEP Team

Preparing for Community Living
Contact your local MCO to assess the child’s eligibility for services. If eligible, ensure the child is added to the Registry of Unmet Needs (also known as the “waitlist”) for the NC Innovations Waiver.

Approximate age: As early as possible– infancy is not too young. It can take 15+ years to get off the waitlist!

Who can help: Individual and family

Preparing for Community Living
Contact your local MCO to ask about eligibility for home and community services. Even if an individual is still on the Registry of Unmet Needs, they may qualify for other services. [see Adult Services action plan for information].

Approximate age: Contact MCO at least once a year, starting at 14 (there are oftentimes updates in policies/services available)

Who can help: Individual and family

Preparing for Community Living
Learn about housing rights for people with disabilities.

Approximate age: 14

Who can help: Individual, Family/Guardian, and School/IEP Team

Preparing for Community Living
Contact your MCO or other IDD services provider organizations to help identify housing programs of interest and navigate to applications.

Approximate age: Middle school or as early as possible

Who can help: Individual, Family/Guardian

Preparing for Community Living
Explore other Work Together NC action plans that are relevant to community living: transportation, adult services, financial well-being, self determination, and more!

Approximate age: As early as possible and ongoing

Who can help: Individual, Family/Guardian, and Transition Facilitator/IEP Team, Adult Service Providers

Review life skills checklists and resources throughout the transition process.

Approximate age: As early as possible & ongoing

Who can help: Individual, School/IEP Team

Developing daily living skills
Learn daily living skills (budgeting, shopping, cooking) from classroom and community-based instruction or life experiences.

Approximate age: As early as possible & ongoing

Who can help: Individual and School/IEP Team, Pre-ETS programs

Developing daily living skills
Increase responsibilities at home (i.e., chores, using a schedule or planner) and explore support needs (i.e., assistive technology, visual checklists).

Approximate age: As early as possible & ongoing

Who can help: Individual and Family

Developing daily living skills
Identify preferred leisure activities for home and the community. If necessary, develop a choice board or other structure needed for leisure time.

Approximate age: As early as possible & ongoing

Who can help: Individual and family

Developing daily living skills
Learn and practice coping skills.

Approximate age: As early as possible & ongoing

Who can help: Individual, Family, School/IEP Team, Therapist

Achieving safety and social belonging in the community
Learn and practice communication and self-advocacy skills for different settings (employment, school, recreation).

Approximate age: As early as possible & ongoing

Who can help: Individual, Family, School/IEP Team

Achieving safety and social belonging in the community
Learn and practice community safety skills.

Approximate age: As early as possible & ongoing

Who can help: Individual and family, School/IEP Team

Achieving safety and social belonging in the community
Become familiar with safety strategies for social media i.e., how to recognize scams, avoid predators, protect personal information.

Approximate age: As early as possible & ongoing

Who can help: Individual and family, School/IEP Team

Achieving safety and social belonging in the community
Broaden experiences and skills through community activities. Check out Work Togethers social/recreational program library.

Approximate age: As early as possible & ongoing

Who can help: Individual and family

Achieving safety and social belonging in the community
If applicable, prepare for living with roommates (i.e., practice relevant social skills like setting boundaries, communicating preferences).

Approximate age: High School

Who can help: Individual and family

Achieving safety and social belonging in the community
Learn how to understand and respond to emergencies in the home and community.

Approximate age: High School

Who can help: Individual and family, School/IEP Team

Exploring options for housing and community living
Identify the types of future living arrangements that fit your preferences and support needs. Tip: many adults with ID and family members can find useful information from resources about housing types for Autistic people.

Approximate age: Start in middle school and ongoing

Who can help: Individual, Family/Guardian, School/IEP Team, Managed Care Organization

Exploring options for housing and community living
Explore Work Together NC’s online libraries where you can find information to use with your family and trusted adults to learn more about the types of living arrangements that might be right for you. Tip: some of these resources focus on autism, but they have useful information for adults with ID.

Approximate age: Start in middle school and ongoing

Who can help: Individual, Family/Guardian, School/IEP Team, Managed Care Organization

Exploring options for housing and community living
Learn about the NC Medicaid Supported Living Definitions and understand what they mean for your family. If the individual is receiving the NC Innovations Waiver, talk to your MCO Care Coordinator. If the individual is not receiving the NC Innovations Waiver, ask a Care Coordinator from your MCO about supported living services that may be available through the State of NC.

Approximate age: Individuals are re-assessed for their "level" every 3 years by the MCO

Who can help: Individual, Family/Guardian, Managed Care Organization

Exploring options for housing and community living
Contact housing services providers to understand the availability of residential housing options and your eligibility. Use the WorkTogetherNC.com to find Services page to search by county, region, and for agencies that serve people in all areas of the state.

Approximate age: High school

Who can help: Individual, Family/Guardian, Managed Care Organization

Exploring options for housing and community living
If you are interested in living in an apartment or another type of rented space, research affordable housing programs that assist people to pay for rent.

Approximate age: High school

Who can help: Individual, Family/Guardian, Managed Care Organization

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Disclaimer: These action plans are for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be comprehensive, and should not be taken as legal advice. Services and programs mentioned may vary by county. Please consult with professionals with expertise in this topic area for guidance specific to you, your family or student/client’s situation. The “approximate age” listed with each item is a general recommendation for when to get started on an action item; however, everyone has a different timeline and for many of the items, it’s never too late to take action! Have a suggested correction or addition to this checklist? Email worktogethernc@med.unc.edu.

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