November 21, 2000
There’s
No Place Like Home
NJCD Meets to Discuss Housing Opportunities for Developmentally Disabled
Adults
With
the increased housing opportunities that have recently become available
through New York State Cares, the current quest is to find appropriate
housing for those men and women who require some level of support and
supervision along with their need for greater independence and
self-determination.
The
most common option to date has been the group home in which 6-12 adults
live together. The downside
to group homes is that with so many residents in one house, the atmosphere
can be somewhat institutionalized and restricting. Those who are more
advanced can become stifled by the group mentality, especially if they do
not receive enough personal attention.
Another residential option that only exists on a very limited basis
within the Jewish community, but is something that the National
Jewish Council for the Disabled (NJCD) is currently pursuing as an
option for its more independent and self-determined members, is supported
apartment living.
Recently, families of
Yachad members participated in a discussion led by Rob Davies, head of the
housing department for the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental
Disabilities (OMRDD), to discuss the option of supported apartment living.
Mr. Davies outlined the benefits of this type of housing and
informed the families that there were more creative and less structured
ways of finding housing for their children.
After discussing the options, the parents established a parents advisory council whose responsibility will be to advocate for the
rights of the developmentally disabled by articulating their requests to
government agencies, Jewish agencies and congressional representatives.
Dr. Jeffrey Lichtman,
National Director of NJCD, explained, “The creation of this advisory
council will, hopefully, empower the parents of our members to seek the
benefits and opportunities that their children could and should have
access to. The quest for a
wider array of housing opportunities is just the beginning of what will
hopefully become, with the support of the NJCD, the powerful voice of the
families of adults with developmental disabilities.”
With more than 35
chapters throughout the United States and Canada, the NJCD, an agency of
the Orthodox Union, is the only national
resource center providing specialized guidance and information as well as
direct services to those in the Jewish community
who have special needs. Yachad, a division of the NJCD, provides a wide
range of social, recreational and religious programs, serving well over
1,500 children and adults with developmental disabilities.
The
Orthodox Union, now in its second century of service to the Jewish
community of America and beyond, is the world leader in youth
work, advocacy for the disabled,
synagogue services, adult
education and political action.
Its kosher supervision
label, the
 , is the world’s most
recognized kosher symbol and can be found on over 250,000 products in 68
countries around the globe
###
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of America
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Phone: 212-613-8321 Fax: 212-564-9058
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