How to Start a Career in Supported Living

Before you start your career in supported living, you might want to know what supported living is. You may be more familiar with the terms "assisted living" or "independent living", but supported living is quite different from these. A person with a career in supported living will work with people with developmental disabilities like autism, cerebral palsy, or intellectual disabilities (used to be called mental retardation). Supported living aims to provide these people with the supports they need to live, recreate, work, and socialize in the community. Regardless of the degree of disability, these people will live in houses or apartments of their own choosing and with people of their own choosing. There are no large institutions or group homes just the same kind of apartments and houses that you and I live in. When in the community, the person receiving supports does not go about in a group with other people with developmental disabilities on an outing chosen by "staff" but goes to the bank, the grocery store, the baseball game with support staff as needed and with friends of his or her own choosing. The hallmarks of supported living are "choice" and "inclusion".

I came to work in supported living at a time when it was just starting in California. My work experience had been with people with developmental disabilities living in a large (72 beds) board and care place and with emotionally disturbed teens and children in residential treatment. But my real teacher was my adopted daughter who has some intellectual disabilities. She kept being put into "programs" that she hated and that did not meet her needs or interests. Supported living was a godsend to her.

To start a career in supported living, you need to have some work experience to make sure you will like the work and the people you will be providing supports for. Although you don't need a college degree for a job as a direct support person, you will need one for positions that require staff supervision and development of support strategies. You can work in supported living part time and it would be a very good idea to work part time while going to college, even if for only a few hours a week. A college degree in special education, human services, social work, or psychology would be helpful. Understanding systems like social security, in home support services, regional centers, departments of rehabilitation, is important but you can get help with learning this on the job. Most people working in supported living find that "working the system" is a necessary evil. More important than any work experience or training, is the attitude you bring to the work. It is absolutely essential that you value the people you are working for and see them as people who have their own interests, dreams, and choices and that you are not there to "fix" them or change them but to support them in reaching their dreams. Some people just never "get" this and they do not make it in working in supported living. Other attributes that are valuable are flexiability and creativity. If you want routine and regular, predictable hours, supported living is not for you. You must relish change, challenges, and surprises.