INDIVIDUAL SERVICES | PROGRAMS FOR CONSUMERS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES | MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES | TAKING CONTROL | SUPPORT SERVICES | COMMUNITY SERVICES | CLIENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM | ILC LINKS

Independent Living Center Programs and Services

Since 1982 the Center’s services have expanded and evolved in order to meet our goal of full partnership with people with disabilities in our community. We now offer our programs in several areas of concern: individual services, programs for consumers with developmental disabilities, mental health services, support services and community services. See separate sections for our family of ILP agencies Native American Independent Living Services (NAILS), Mental Health PEER Connection, AZtech and the RRTC on Independent Living Management.

INDIVIDUAL SERVICES

Help consumers to take control of their lives and maximize their individual opportunities.

Peer Counseling assists participants in smoothing the transition to independence, whether it is in a group setting, with the family or one-on-one. It includes counseling, teaching, information giving and sharing, and similar kinds of contact provided by other individuals with disabilities. Some discussions may involve disability laws, civil rights and other empowerment and protection issues.

Financial Benefits Consultation informs consumers with disabilities of the various programs available from government and other sources, and provides instruction in securing and/or maintaining assistance.

Housing Search Assistance provides information, advice, and aid related to securing housing or shelter, including existing accessible housing. It includes assistance with reviewing and evaluating newspaper ads, advice on communication with landlords, provision of lists of available accessible housing and housing support application information and assistance.

Home and Building Modification Consultation identifies physical barriers in the home and recommends suitable adaptations.

Independent Living Skills Evaluation can assist participants in identifying and learning the independent living skills they need in any of the following areas: housekeeping, cleaning, clothing care and personal hygiene; cooking and meal planning; reading, writing and communication skills; use of adaptive devices; money management including banking, budgeting, shopping and handling taxes; awareness of the legal system, home safety, family and community responsibilities; and social and interpersonal skills. Appropriate instruction can be provided in the home or in our IL Skills area.

Mobility Training provides instruction to assist individuals with cognitive and sensory impairments to get around their homes and communities.

Recreational Peer Support Groups offer consumers the opportunity to share experiences while taking part in: meaningful integrated leisure-time activities; participation in community affairs; and/or other integrated recreation activities that may be competitive, active, or quiet.

Peer Mentoring Program links individuals with disabilities who wish to live more independently with peer volunteers who are trained to act as big brothers or sisters to aid them in the transition.

Individual Advocacy is available to citizens who have experienced disability-based discrimination, or who need assistance in accessing benefits, services and programs to which they may be entitled. It can involve cooperative work with public interest legal organizations. Also, our Disability Rights Advocate works for enactment and enforcement of laws and regulations.

PROGRAMS FOR CONSUMERS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES

Medicaid Service Coordination (MSC) in which an advocate assists developmentally disabled individuals in securing appropriate services that can aid a person’s efforts to live independently in the community. Among these are: housing, financial assistance, work programs, medical services, personal care attendants, adaptive devices, daily living skills instruction, and so forth.

Individual Support Services (ISS) offers financial assistance, such as rent subsidies and partial funding of home modifications to encourage the efforts of people with developmental disabilities to live independently.

Family Support Services (FSS), which can provide free transportation for an eligible individual or family member with a developmental disability.

MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

Peer Advocate Specialist Program matches recipients of mental health services, who are living in institutional-care facilities and are about to make the transition into independent living situations, with trained peers living in the community who can offer guidance. It is offered in cooperation with the non-profit housing agency Living Opportunities of DePaul.

Peer Transportation Program provides van rides to recipients of mental health services to places of employment, vocational training and housing search activities.

BPC Peer Advocate is an ILP employee whose office is located at the Buffalo Psychiatric Center (BPC) who works to maintain the rights of BPC patients with mental health diagnoses. The Advocate also directly assists them in gaining necessary services, including post-discharge supports, obtaining available information, and working toward release into the community.

SUPPORT SERVICES

Resources that can be used routinely to maintain and enhance the independence of individuals with disabilities.

Taking Control - Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program

Taking Control allows individuals receiving homecare services funded through Medicaid, the opportunity to hire, train and supervise a personal assistant to provide service in your home (providing continuation of services for at least six months).

The Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program is now available through the Western New York Independent Living Project, Inc (WNYILP). This program establishes an employer / employee relationship between the consumer (Participant) and the onsite homecare professional (Personal Assistant).

Transportation is available via our wheelchair lift-equipped vans for a very small cost. Operating on a first-come, first-served basis, our vans take consumers with disabilities to the doctor, shopping, recreational activities, work or anywhere within a 50-mile radius of the Center. (Also see Peer Transportation Program for mental health consumers, above.)

Personal Care Attendants (PCA) Consultation offers instruction in practical techniques for interviewing, hiring, managing and terminating attendants.

A Volunteer Reader List is available for people needing personal material read aloud due to visual impairment, inability to hold a book or who are otherwise considered to be print-handicapped.

Equipment Loan of wheelchairs, walkers and a variety of other adaptive devices is available for up to one month with no charge to consumers with disabilities. The devices can help in making purchasing decisions or fill in the gap during a temporary period of need.

Participants can also try out a wide variety of devices at the ILC as part of the Independent Living Skills Evaluation and Instruction programs.

COMMUNITY SERVICES

Open to anyone who wants to learn about disability issues and/or provide total access.

Information and Referral provides a wide array of material for study, including:

1. Disability laws and the regulations that define them, and Federal and State codes relating to disability issues;
2. Instructional videos on sign language interpretation and a variety of other independent living topics;

Reference material that can assist interested individuals in identifying outside services, programs, adaptive devices and other information.

Deaf Services can place qualified professional Sign Language Interpreters in various settings (classroom, office, factory, lecture, etc.) to facilitate communication between consumers who are hearing-impaired and the hearing public. It also offers advocacy for deaf consumers and awareness education for the community.

Brailling Service for blind consumers expediently converts up to five pages of printed material into Braille without charge. Payment arrangements can be made for institutional requests and larger quantities.

24-Hour Information Phone Lines offer timely recordings to anyone with a touch-tone telephone: Alerts are vital issues of local, state or national concern; What’s Happening at the ILP lists events, new programs and activities of interest involving the Center; and the Job Bank is a brief listing of job examinations and open positions, locally and across the nation. Rotary phone users can be connected during business hours.

Assistive Listening Systems, which are portable units, aid organizations in meeting their responsibility to provide equal access for hard-of-hearing persons who have a telephone-compatible hearing aid. Our conference room, containing a permanent audio loop assistive listening system, can be reserved by community groups for meetings, free of charge.

Consumer Device Evaluation Program enlists persons with and without disabilities, as well as caregivers and professionals who prescribe assistive equipment, to offer input on potential products or prototype inventions. Paid focus groups are run by AZtechas part of the work of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Technology Transfer (T²RERC) assistive device commercialization program.

Video Conference and Focus Group Room: The ILP’s Marvin Palanker Conference Room is a 600-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility with ceiling-mounted microphones and video cameras for local pickup in video conferences. A six-foot-long two-way mirror allows focus group dialog to be viewed from the adjacent control room where the images from four wall-mounted cameras can record individually or simultaneously. It is available for use by outside organizations for a reasonable fee.

Architectural Barrier Consultation Service for businesses and institutions; evaluates buildings for compliance with accessibility standards and can provide written recommendations for steps needed to improve the facility. Architectural Barrier Services offers advice, information and assistance regarding removal of barriers from any publicly or privately-owned residence or building, whether built or in the planning stage.

Community Education provides in-service training for agencies and professionals, and sensitivity workshops for schools and community organizations, to acquaint them with issues important to people with disabilities.

Mental Health World is a regional magazine of information, personal commentary and articles published by an Editorial Board of current and former recipients of mental health services. The ILC provides production assistance to assure that the consumers' voices are heard.

Voter Registration is offered through the ILP, as it is an official New York State Agency-Based Voter Registration Site.

This multiple-approach program provides an avenue for all people with disabilities to gain access, both physical and attitudinal, into our community. Furthermore, this process can assist consumers in becoming full partners and contributing citizens in society.

CLIENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

The Client Assistance Program (CAP) provides support and advocacy for individuals with disabilities who are seeking vocational rehabilitation services from VESID (Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities) or CBVH (Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped).

CAP offers information and assistance with gaining access to appropriate rehabilitation services in New York State. Advocates from the Client Assistance Program provide aid and strategies for negotiating with VESID, CBVH, ILC's, and related service systems. CAP is committed to promoting consumer access to quality services and supports.

The Western New York Client Assistance Program (WNY CAP) is a free service and serves consumers residing in: Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans, and Wyoming counties. As part of a statewide network of advocates, the CAP program is administered by the New York State Commission on Quality of Care (NYSCQC), and operates independent of VESID or CBVH.

For additional information and services, please call:
Megan Westbrook, B.A./CPRP
WNY CAP coordinator
Western New York Independent Living Project, Inc.
3108 Main Street
Buffalo, New York 14214-1384
(716)836-0822 - extension 114 (Voice/TTY)
Email: mwestbrook@wnyilp.org

NYS CAP Coordinator
NYS Commission on Quality of Care
401 State Street
Schenectady, NY 12305-2397
(518) 381-7098
1-800-624-4143 (Voice/TTY)
www.cqc.state.ny.us