Resource: Life-sharing scenarios
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Page posted: 1/20/22
Life sharing is a relationship-based living arrangement that carefully matches an adult 18 years or older who has a disability with an individual or family who will share their life and experiences and support the person using person-centered practices. For more information about life sharing, see CBSM – Life-sharing matching process and ongoing support options.
This page provides examples of how a life-sharing arrangement can work and what to anticipate in the planning process. The information can be helpful for people with disabilities, families, case managers and providers.
DHS encourages the use of creativity, judgement and person-centered practices when discovering what works best for people interested in a life-sharing arrangement.
Example 1: Carlos
Before the move
Carlos is 23 years old and has a great smile. He truly enjoys meeting people and getting to know their interests. He receives support through the Developmental Disabilities (DD) Waiver and lives in a community residential setting (CRS) with three roommates.
Carlos is interested in looking for somewhere else to live. Carlos’ family and team are supportive of him exploring his options, but they also are concerned about him getting the right amount of support.
Planning for the move
Carlos’ case manager found information on MinnesotaHelp.info about a life-sharing agency that helps people find individuals and families who provide support through life-sharing arrangements. Carlos and his family contact the agency, and his case manager authorizes a service agreement for the agency to start the matching process through the family training and counseling waiver service (see CBSM – Family training and counseling). They set up a time with the life-sharing agency to discuss what is important to and for Carlos and what it might be like for Carlos to live in a life-sharing arrangement.
During the discussion with the life-sharing agency, Carlos shares that he loves the outdoors and, in particular, being by a lake. Carlos talks about how he spent time as a child at his grandparents’ resort, walking from dock to dock and talking with neighbors and friends. The life-sharing agency discovers Carlos has a gift of gab—he is very talkative and interested in learning where people fish and the types of fish they catch.
The life-sharing agency gathers information that helps Carlos develop a one-page description and person-centered description. These tools are evidence-based and help others understand his strengths, hopes, dreams and overall things that are important to and for him. The life-sharing agency also uses a matching tool to understand his personality characteristics and learn about his rituals and routines. For more information about these tools, see The Learning Community for Person-Centered Practices.
Finding the family
Life-sharing agencies are always looking to find individuals and families who are interested in sharing their home and life with a person who has a disability. Dedicated staff members explore possible matches by looking at shared interests and people’s preferred areas to live.
Carlos grew up in Owatonna, MN, and his parents and siblings still live there. The life-sharing agency focuses its search in that area. By using a network of people who live and work near Owatonna, the life-sharing agency finds Nancy and Ralph, a couple whose children recently moved away to college.
The life-sharing agency explains life-sharing arrangements to Nancy and Ralph. As a life-sharing family, Nancy and Ralph would be responsible to support a person and include them in their daily lives. Nancy and Ralph are interested in this opportunity, so the life-sharing agency has a person-centered discussion with them to gather information.
The life-sharing agency learns Nancy and Ralph have lived in Owatonna their entire lives. Their home is walking distance from a main street. It has three bedrooms, two living areas, a full kitchen and an additional kitchenette in a walk-out basement. The life-sharing agency also discovers Nancy and Ralph have a cabin in northern Minnesota that they visit frequently.
Through this process, Carlos, Nancy and Ralph agree to meet.
Carlos, Nancy and Ralph meet
The life-sharing agency arranges several meetings and carefully starts the relationship-building process with Carlos, Nancy and Ralph.
Over the next three months, Carlos, Nancy and Ralph meet at local coffee shops, Nancy and Ralph’s home and cabin, Carlos’ current home, an art show and a movie theater. Carlos even spends the night with Nancy and Ralph a few times. Nancy and Ralph invite their relatives and friends to several of these meetings. Carlos also invites his friends, relatives and others who support him.
During this relationship-building process, the life-sharing agency helps Carlos, Nancy and Ralph discuss:
During the three-month period, Nancy and Ralph receive training about person-centered practices, direct support and positive supports. The life-sharing agency also completes a background study on both Nancy and Ralph (see DHS – Background studies for more information).
Prior to the move, the life-sharing agency negotiates a portion of the family residential services rate with Nancy and Ralph, specific to the support they need with all 245D functions and responsibilities related to Carlos’ support plan. The lead agency calculates the family residential services rate by entering inputs based on Carlos’ assessed needs. The family residential services rate must adhere to the business rules of family residential services settings. The life-sharing agency also helps Nancy and Ralph get their home licensed by their county of residence.
Moving day
Nancy and Ralph decide to open their home to Carlos, and Carlos decides to accept their offer.
The lead agency:
On moving day, the life-sharing agency works with Carlos and his support team to pack, move and purchase items he needs for his new home.
Two months after the move
After Carlos moves to Nancy and Ralph’s house, the life-sharing agency visits weekly to check in with Carlos and his new life-sharing family. This frequency can increase or decrease over time, based on Carlos’ needs.
Carlos has already visited the family cabin several times. He cannot stop talking about all the people he has met and how he looks forward to visiting the cabin almost every weekend. He also talks about working with Ralph to help cut the grass and do yard work.
The life-sharing agency stays connected with Carlos’ support team, which includes his family, case manager and new life-sharing family. Nancy and Ralph share how remarkably Carlos’ personality has shined into their lives. They cannot believe the number of people Carlos has met at their cabin and in their neighborhood. Carlos is now part of the family.
Example 2: Sally
Before the move
Sally is 50 years old, and she is known for her kindness. She loves talking about baseball with anyone who is a fan and knows almost every statistic in Major League Baseball. Sally has a brain injury, epilepsy and diabetes. She lives in an apartment in Minneapolis, MN, with supports available in the apartment complex that are paid through the Brain Injury (BI) Waiver.
Sally has difficulty managing her medications, and staff members have difficulty understanding and respecting her morning routine. Sally likes to sleep until 8 a.m. each day, but Sally’s staff members end their shifts at 5 a.m. Staff members attempt to wake her at 5 a.m. to take her medications, which creates a conflict that cannot be resolved. The apartment complex leased by the provider agency asks Sally to move and also issues her a service termination notice.
Sally wants a place of her own and a change of scenery. She decides to move to her own apartment, but her staff members continue to struggle to understand her. Staff members scheduled to work with Sally at her apartment are not consistent, and she experiences a lot of staff turnover. Sally ends up being hospitalized due to complications with epilepsy and diabetes. Eventually, she moves to a rehabilitation facility after she falls after having a diabetic reaction.
Sally is very close to her sister, Bianca, and relies on her support to make decisions. Sally and Bianca discuss Sally’s next actions but are unsure about long-term options that would support her in a place she likes that is safe.
Planning for the move
A family friend comes into contact with an agency that helps connect people with individuals and families who provide support through a life-sharing arrangement. This idea creates some curiosity for Sally and Bianca, so they call the agency. Sally’s case manager authorizes a service agreement for the life-sharing agency to start the matching process through the family training and counseling waiver service (see CBSM – Family training and counseling).
The life-sharing agency schedules a time with Sally and Bianca to have a person-centered discussion. The life-sharing agency starts the discussion with a very specific question for Sally: “What do people like and admire about you?” Sally responds that no one has ever asked her that question. She then starts talking about how much she loves baseball and how she enjoys working with electronic devices and computers.
The life-sharing agency goes through a basic exercise to learn about what worked and did not work with the previous places Sally lived.
What worked?
What did not work?
The life-sharing agency discusses the concept of a life-sharing arrangement with Sally and Bianca. They are intrigued by the idea that there might be an individual or family who would open their home, lend their support and include Sally in their life.
Finding the family
During the next week, the life-sharing agency finds three possible individuals/families in Minneapolis.
Home 1: Betty and Dave are very familiar with life-sharing arrangements. They just had a person move out of their home into an apartment of their own. They have several years of experience supporting a person with a brain injury. They live in south Minneapolis, not too far from where Sally hopes to live.
Home 2: Judi and Cal live near downtown Minneapolis. They have two sons who are ages 10 and 12, and they have a separate apartment built on the side of their home. Cal is a teacher and baseball coach for Minneapolis Public Schools and also plays softball with his friends during the summer. Judi loves gardening and canning vegetables for the winter months. She also works as an executive director at a local non-profit that provides services to people who are homeless.
Home 3: Jeff owns a triplex next to his automotive shop in the Powderhorn Park neighborhood of Minneapolis. The triplex is within five blocks of Bianca’s home. Jeff has another renter, Elijah, who has lived in the building for 20 years and is a self-employed IT professional. Elijah provides IT support to Jeff’s automotive shop, and they often grill out in the back yard together.
The life-sharing agency meets with all three families to gather information. Sally is intrigued by all of them, so she decides to call them to ask a list of questions the life-sharing agency helped her develop. All families were interested in meeting Sally based on their conversations. Sally and Bianca are most interested in meeting Judi, Cal and their sons because Sally has younger siblings and loves children.
Sally spends two months getting to know Judi and Cal by having dinner, going to a local art festival, attending a Minnesota Twins baseball game and spending the night at their house to get a sense of what would be like to live there. Sally, Judi, Cal and their sons are convinced they should try a life-sharing arrangement.
During this process, Judi, Cal, Sally’s team and the life-sharing agency create a life-sharing independent contractor agreement about the family’s responsibilities. After all parties review and sign the agreement, they put a moving date on their calendars.
Prior to the move, the life-sharing agency negotiates a portion of the family residential services rate with the family, specific to the support they need with all 245D functions and responsibilities related to Sally’s support plan. The lead agency calculates the family residential services rate by entering inputs based on Sally’s assessed needs. The family residential services rate and must adhere to the business rules of family residential services settings. The life-sharing agency also helps Judi and Cal get their home licensed by their county of residence.
Moving day
Once Sally, Judi and Cal decide on a moving date, the lead agency:
The life-sharing agency, Bianca, Judi and Cal help Sally move into her new space adjacent to Judi and Cal’s house. Sally has access to the whole home, but she is excited that she has her own bedroom, living area and kitchenette. Her new home is quiet and has a nice view. She is excited to live with the family.
Two months later
Sally finds the trust and respect she is looking for with Judi and Cal. Sally also finds a job with Cal’s brother, who edits home videos and converts them to DVDs. Sally can walk to his small shop, which is a few blocks from her home. She helps edit short videos and calls customers when their orders are ready. The life-sharing agency continues to provide ongoing support while Sally, Judi and Cal continue to get to know each other.
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