Everyday independence · Adults, families & support teams
Building Independence Through Community-Based Supported Living
Independence is not the absence of help. It can mean more say in everyday life, opportunities to practice skills, and support for meaningful community connections.
By Monumental Supportive Living, LLC
Let the person define what independence means
Independence looks different for different adults. One person may want more involvement in meal preparation; another may prioritize choosing how to spend an evening or maintaining friendships. Asking for help, using a communication aid, or choosing support can be part of self-direction rather than a sign that independence has failed.
Virginia’s Supported Living service combines skill-building with routine, general, and safety supports. Its purpose includes acquiring, retaining, or improving skills for successful home and community life. That definition supports individualized goals; it does not promise that every resident will reach the same milestone or require less assistance over time.
Official guidance: Virginia Administrative Code: Supported living residential service (12VAC30-122-540) · DMAS HCBS Toolkit: General Requirements for All Settings
Turn everyday activities into opportunities to participate
With the person’s agreement and according to assessed needs, daily routines can provide opportunities to practice choices and skills. Illustrative possibilities include helping plan a shopping list, selecting clothing, participating in a household task, or deciding how to organize personal time. These are examples for planning—not resident stories or a guarantee that MSL offers a particular activity to every person.
Ask a provider how it balances assistance with opportunities to do what the person can and wants to do. A task completed quickly by staff is not necessarily a person’s goal. Conversely, insisting that someone perform a task without needed support is not person-centered skill-building. The appropriate level of help should reflect assessed needs, preferences, and the plan for supports.
Official guidance: Virginia Administrative Code: Supported living residential service (12VAC30-122-540) · Virginia Administrative Code: Individual support plans (12VAC30-122-190)
Use the ISP to connect goals, supports, and review
The Individual Support Plan should identify the person’s specific needs and desired outcomes. The provider’s plan for supports describes its role in delivering support. Virginia requires the coordinator to monitor appropriateness and review the ISP at least quarterly, with collaborative redevelopment at least annually. Plans should respond when circumstances or preferences change.
Useful discussion questions include: What does the person want to do? What assistance makes participation possible? How will the team know whether the strategy is helping? A goal might involve retaining an existing skill or improving confidence in making a choice, not only achieving a new ability. Ask how feedback from the person is included alongside provider observations.
Official guidance: Virginia Administrative Code: Individual support plans (12VAC30-122-190) · Virginia Administrative Code: Supported living residential service (12VAC30-122-540)
Build community connections, not just a schedule of outings
DMAS HCBS guidance calls for integrated settings that support full access to the greater community. It includes opportunities for community life, control of personal resources, autonomy, and choice of providers and supports. Being physically present in a public place is not the same as having a meaningful role or relationship there.
Discuss what community participation matters to the person: familiar people, a preferred activity, a place they enjoy, or an existing relationship they want to maintain. Ask how individual choices are accommodated when housemates prefer something different. Plan practical access, support needs, and expenses rather than assuming that outings, employment, or transportation will automatically be provided.
Official guidance: DMAS HCBS Toolkit: General Requirements for All Settings · Virginia Administrative Code: Supported living residential service (12VAC30-122-540)
Respect choice while planning for support and safety
Privacy, dignity, freedom from coercion and restraint, and autonomy are core HCBS expectations. Safety planning should be individualized, not a reason to replace everyone’s choices with the same routine. If a limitation is proposed, ask how it is assessed, documented, and reviewed under the applicable rules and person-centered planning process.
Families can share valuable knowledge about preferences, communication, and familiar routines. Their participation should support the adult’s voice and follow the person’s wishes and applicable decision-making arrangements. A productive support-team conversation asks both what matters to the person and what support is needed to pursue it safely.
Official guidance: DMAS HCBS Toolkit: General Requirements for All Settings · DMAS: Home and Community-Based Services Toolkit · Virginia Administrative Code: Individual support plans (12VAC30-122-190) · DBHDS: DD Waiver Support Coordination Handbook (July 2024 revision, PDF)
Support. Stability. Success. at MSL Thrive
At Monumental Supportive Living, LLC, Support means assistance guided by individual needs and choices. Stability means a welcoming home and dependable routines. Success means progress toward goals that matter to the person—not a promised clinical result or a single measure of independence. Our Supported Living home is in Manassas, Virginia.
This article uses ‘building independence’ as an everyday goal, not a claim that Virginia’s Building Independence (BI) Waiver covers Supported Living. The Supported Living service rule identifies FIS and CL coverage. MSL referrals require an active, eligible Virginia DD Waiver, and admissions depend on individualized assessment in accordance with the ISP. Families and coordinators can ask how goals might fit the home’s supports and confirm current availability without assuming admission.
Official guidance: Virginia Administrative Code: Supported living residential service (12VAC30-122-540) · DMAS: Developmental Disability (DD) Waivers
Sources and further reading
- Virginia Administrative Code: Supported living residential service (12VAC30-122-540)
- DMAS HCBS Toolkit: General Requirements for All Settings
- Virginia Administrative Code: Individual support plans (12VAC30-122-190)
- DMAS: Home and Community-Based Services Toolkit
- DBHDS: DD Waiver Support Coordination Handbook (July 2024 revision, PDF)
- DMAS: Developmental Disability (DD) Waivers
General education, not an individual eligibility decision, legal advice, or an admission guarantee. Rules and guidance can change. Confirm current requirements with the CSB, support coordinator, DMAS, or DBHDS as appropriate.