The Residential Service became SAPPORT's core service, and with the ultimate aim of independent living in mind, the Agency set out to identify residences based within the community and possibly housing just a few persons within each unit.

Aims:

The Residential Services enable persons with a disability to live independently or with others, where the family home environment is not possible or available. Such residential support is provided within small and personalised apartments and houses, which may be residences of SAPPORT, the home of the individual with a disability, or at another location acceptable to all parties, but in the area of operation of SAPPORT. Residents will gain skills in community living through individualised support plans. It is therefore assumed that a client must be under the Person Centred Plan to determine the need and advisability of modification in the manner the client is supported.

The Residential Services aim to provide the necessary support and care to ensure that clients achieve their optimum potential in enhancing their quality of life.

The Residential Service has helped to improve the quality of life of clients. However it is neither realistic nor recommendable to offer such service to all people having a disability. The maxim would be to offer the possibility of independent living without removing the person with a disability from the residential setting of one's choice. This is especially recommended if the person with a disability has the opportunity to keep on living within the natural family.

Description:

All clients are classified as requiring support that is basic or intermediate or intensive for those clients who require one to one attention. Staffing ratio thus varies and depends on the individual needs of the clients residing in the particular residence.

The support set-up for the residences is composed of one Residential Supervisor per residence together with a number of Support Workers who work on shift basis 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Residential Supervisor is assisted by a Professional Support Worker.

The residents are supported in activities of daily living, skills-teaching, and community inclusion as set out in the clients' Person Centred Plans. Relationships are valued and therefore clients are supported to maintain or build effective relationships with family members, friends and significant others.