Behavioral Supports provides 24 hour and less than 24 hour Residential Supports to Individuals with clinical challenges.  These supports are heavily supported by our Clinical Department.  The Clinical Supports Team (Clinical Director, Assistant Clinical Director and Clinical Assistant Responder) provides on-going consultation and staff training.  The Clinical Department also responds in situations where Individuals may need increasing supports at a particular time due to their significant challenges.  Behavioral Supports has become a Division of 8 homes and 28 Individuals in four communities (Arlington, Newton, Waltham, Watertown) as WCI reorganized its organisational structure.  People are supported to increase daily living skills, plan nutritious meals, grocery shop, budget and spend wisely, pursue hobbies and get involved in their community.

Although this Division can be a much more challenging program, when goals are reached, the benefits are often extremely rewarding.  With a strong team from the Division and the Clinical Supports Team, we provide an environment that enables Individuals to set and reach their goals.  These goals include exercising and eating healthy, gaining more independence, practicing good safety skills, self-advocacy, learning how to manage money, planning vacations and pursuing community activities and interests.

Employment & Community Based Day Support:

The Individuals in these homes have previously engaged in behavior, which may have prohibited them from joining and engaging in more integrated and enjoyable activities.  Working with an interdisciplinary team of clinicians has afforded these Individuals an opportunity to demonstrate a much grater degree of self-control so that they may be more involved in pleasurable activities.  The Team includes an array of therapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, neurologists, the WCI Clinical Team, and WCI staff who work closely in the development of a plan.  The plan always involves a teaching component so that the Individual may better express himself via functional communication including verbal responses, sign language, pictures, and objects.

These Individuals receive the same type of supports and services as those Individuals living in homes with 24 hour supervision.  They also have similar goals to increase independence.  They include daily living skills, self-medication, planning nutritious meals, diet and exercise, money management to include budgeting, banking, and planning for purchases, community integration as well as safety skills.  There is, however, a greater emphasis on the development and refinement of prosocial behavior and interactions with others.

Individuals in these homes have a higher staffing ratio to ensure plans are executed consistently.  These Individuals have greatly improved their social skills and communication over time.