Did you know that CLW supports about 600 people and families as they pursue possibilities, make choices, and achieve the life they want? You may be familiar with supports we provide for people who choose 24hr small group living, supported independent living, daytime supports, or employment supports, but...
Did you know we support about 170 people and families through our family support department as well? These families have chosen to individualize supports and to self-direct, which means they make choices about how funds are spent, where they purchase services, and what types of support they want to receive.
One of the cornerstones of this type of arrangement is that someone is responsible to "direct" funds. In most cases this is a close family member, but it could be the person receiving support themselves, or another trusted person. Directing funds is a big responsibility because it also involves keeping track of budgets, approving invoices for submission to CLW for reimbursement, and being in charge of overall financial accountability (among other things).
CLW is one of the only agencies in the province that supports families in this type of model, and we've been doing it for decades. This is one reason that we are at an advantage when it comes to being prepared for Journey to Belonging.
On May 14th, we held a learning event for families who self-direct, where we unveiled new options for them to submit invoices online and to see their budgets and remaining balances in real time. Although completely optional to use, the additional tools will help people and families stay on top of budgets and financial items more effectively. The tools also help us as an agency to be more efficient, which means that we will be able to support more people (as a reminder, there are 20,000+ people currently on the waiting list for Developmental Service supports in Ontario).
If you are reading this as a family member- it was an absolute pleasure to spend time together; please reach out with questions and suggestions for improvements. We are always open to receiving feedback!
If you are reading this as a CLW employee- these families are typically the people who may do an "IF posting" internally, which can be filed by a CLW employee. Our employees are permitted to hold more than 1 position, so adding an IF posting to your schedule is a great way to support someone else in our community and it gives you a wonderful opportunity to connect with a family.
