Residential

Families often want to know the difference between a group home and a foster home.  Both types of these residential homes help people with various levels of intellectual and physical disabilities.

Community Life serves adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. If you, or someone you care for, is looking for a new housing situation and that person qualifies for a 24-hour residential home, then we may be able to help.  If you are interested in receiving services from our agency, you can start the process by contacting your local case manager.  Your county case manager will send our management team a referral packet which consists of information about the person, their support plan, and the best ways to provide services to that person.  Once that packet has been received, Community Life will contact the individual and/or family to talk about what supports and services they may be looking for and potentially schedule a time to visit the house for a tour and to meet some staff.  Not all houses and housemates are the best options, so families may often look at many kinds of houses and residential options to get an idea of what kind of supports they are looking for and which place would be the best fit, overall.

A group home is a residential, agency-supervised home in the community and is designed to provide 24-hour supervised care, training, and support.  Group homes provide room and board as well as a wide array of services to the people it supports. The number of people living in each group home can vary, and staffing is provided based on the supports and the needs of the individuals and the house, itself. Some group homes are designed to serve individuals with complex medical needs, as well as those with challenging behavioral needs.

There is often confusion about the differences between a group home, such as the ones Community Life provides, and foster homes. There are many subtle distinctions, but it comes down to two major differences.  The first one is that group homes are licensed through the State of Oregon, whereas foster homes are licensed by each individual county.  Licensed group homes are charged with supporting all different mental, emotional, and physical needs of the clients.  They are staffed 24-hours a day and often with multiple staff on shift to address the various needs of each of the individuals. Community Life provides all trainings, assists in the creation of individual support plans, as well as provides support in the development of functional assessments and behavioral support plans, if they are needed.

The other major distinction is that Community Life owns and controls the house.  Individuals sign a lease and rent the rooms.  In a Group Home, staff do not live on-site.  A foster home is typically the personal home of the provider and the provider historically lives at the home.  This creates an established home-like environment for an individual.

Both group and foster homes are excellent options, and we encourage everyone looking for a residential environment to explore, interview, and research the various service options available to you.  We encourage you to even tour homes that may not have any openings to widen your understanding of what is and can be available.

If you are not quite ready for a group home setting, check out our Supported Living or Community Living Supports page.