For an adult with an intellectual and/or developmental disability (I/DD), living independently often depends on having the practical skills to manage everyday responsibilities. Independent Living Service is designed to help adults learn and strengthen those skills so they can live as independently as possible. For some individuals, the goal may eventually be living completely independently without ongoing support. For others, success may mean becoming more self-sufficient in specific areas of daily life. The goals are individualized because independence will not look exactly the same for everyone.
What Is Independent Living Service?
Independent Living Service, often called ILS, focuses on teaching adults the skills needed to manage their own lives and households.
The emphasis is on learning rather than having someone else routinely complete tasks for the individual. Support staff can teach, demonstrate, practice, and reinforce skills so the individual has opportunities to become more capable of handling responsibilities independently.
Someone may begin ILS already comfortable with certain aspects of daily life while needing more support in others. The service can focus on the areas that are relevant to that individual’s needs and goals.
What Skills Can Someone Work On Through ILS?
Independent living requires many practical abilities. Several areas that may be addressed through ILS, depending on the individual’s plan.
These include:
- Home skills: cleaning, laundry, cooking, meal planning, and household organization
- Financial skills: budgeting, money management, paying bills, and understanding expenses
- Personal care skills: hygiene and managing personal items
- Health and safety skills: home safety, medication reminders, health-related awareness, and emergency preparedness
These are everyday responsibilities, but together they can have a significant effect on someone’s ability to live independently.
An individual may not need to work on every area. Someone who already handles laundry and cleaning successfully, for example, might need more practice planning meals or managing a budget. Another individual may be working on organizing household responsibilities so they can complete them consistently without reminders.
Why Doesn’t ILS Simply Do These Tasks for Someone?
An important purpose of Independent Living Service is helping the individual learn to perform tasks rather than having support staff routinely perform those tasks for them.
Cooking is a simple example. Preparing a meal for someone solves an immediate need. Teaching someone how to plan a meal, gather what is needed, prepare the food, and clean up afterward builds a skill that can be used again and again.
The same principle applies to other areas of independent living.
Instead of simply cleaning a room, support might focus on learning how to organize the task and complete it. Instead of taking over someone’s finances, the goal might involve developing skills around budgeting and understanding expenses.
Support can change as the person learns. A new task may initially require more instruction and practice. As the individual becomes more confident and capable, less assistance may be needed.
Can Complete Independence Be the Goal? Yes.
ILS is designed to teach skills that can help an adult become capable of living independently. For some individuals, that can mean eventually living alone and managing everyday responsibilities without ongoing support.
That outcome is not required for everyone, however.
People begin with different abilities and have different needs. One person may make significant progress but continue to need assistance with certain responsibilities. Another may gradually develop the skills necessary to manage independently.
The goal should reflect the individual rather than an assumption about what someone with I/DD can or cannot achieve.
This is one reason practical skill development matters so much. Preparing meals, managing money, maintaining a home, staying organized, and responding appropriately to everyday situations are not abstract goals. They are abilities that make independent adult life possible.
Is ILS an Employment Service?
No. ILS is not an employment service, and employment goals are not worked on during ILS service time.
Some skills used in independent living can also be valuable in many other parts of adulthood. Managing time, completing responsibilities, staying organized, and following through on tasks are good examples. However, within ILS, those skills are taught in the context of independent living.
Keeping that distinction clear helps individuals and families understand the purpose of the service and what ILS time is intended to accomplish.
Why Are Individual Goals So Important?
“Become independent” is too broad to serve as a useful day-to-day goal by itself.
Breaking independence into specific skills makes progress easier to understand and work toward. An individual preparing to manage a household, for example, may need to develop abilities related to cleaning, preparing meals, budgeting, paying bills, personal care, and home safety.
The combination will be different for each person.
Individualized goals also make it possible to build on existing strengths. ILS does not need to spend time teaching something a person already manages successfully. Support can instead focus on the areas where additional learning and practice can make a meaningful difference.
Over time, accomplishing smaller goals can lead to much greater self-sufficiency.
Building Skills for Independent Adult Life
Canaan Cares provides Independent Living Service in San Diego County through the San Diego Regional Center. The service focuses on teaching adults practical skills that can help them rely less on others and manage more of their everyday lives for themselves.
For families, it can be helpful to think about independence not as one major achievement, but as a collection of abilities. Cooking dinner, keeping a home organized, following a budget, paying a bill, managing personal belongings, and knowing what to do in an emergency are individual skills. Together, they can create the foundation for independent living.
Canaan Cares supports individuals as they practice and strengthen those abilities around their own goals and needs.
For some individuals, that journey may lead to managing more responsibilities while still receiving some assistance. For others, the ultimate goal may be living independently without support. ILS is about helping each person develop the practical skills needed to move as far toward independence as possible.
If you are interested in learning more about independent living service in San Diego County and the surrounding areas, please contact the compassionate staff at Canaan Cares today: (858) 345-6546.
Canaan Cares proudly serves California Regional Centers throughout San Diego, Poway, Oceanside, Escondido, Carlsbad, El Cajon, Vista, Solana Beach, Encinitas, La Mesa, and Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Riverside Counties.
To begin the eligibility process in your region, contact:
San Diego Regional Center
(858) 576-2996
Regional Center of Orange County
(714) 796-5100
Inland Regional Center
(909) 890-3000
Harbor Regional Center
(310) 543-0100
South Central Los Angeles Regional Center
(213) 744-7000
Eastern Los Angeles Regional Center
(626) 299-4700
Lanterman Regional Center
(213) 383-1300
Westside Regional Center
(310) 258-4000
Families may call any office for support, and staff will direct you to the correct intake coordinator.
