Family support services strengthen the family's ability to provide care, prevent unwanted and inappropriate out-of-home placements, and help maintain family unity.

PA-DDS 8.01

Information is available to help caregivers with their caretaking responsibilities.

Interpretation: Information should address the needs or interests of caregivers and can include topics such as early childhood development, behavior, home economics, work-life balance, and nutrition.

PA-DDS 8.02

The agency provides, or helps families gain access to, a variety of community support services, including:

behavioral support;
case management;
counseling;
early intervention services;
financial assistance;
in-home support;
public entitlements;
respite services; and
support groups.

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	PURPOSE: Children, youth, and adults who participate in Services for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities achieve full integration and inclusion in the mainstream, make choices, exert control over their lives, and fully participate in, and contribute to, their communities.

RELATED FILES

PA_DDS Template.doc
DDS Supplement Replacement.pdf
NA Request.doc
PA-DDS Reference List.pdf


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	FAMILY Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialization, income support, long-term care, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life. The definition of "family" will rest with an individual's indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, fictive kin, or significant others. Organizations that believe family is the central constellation in a child's life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of "family."


	CAREGIVER The provider of physical, emotional, and social needs to another person, often dependent and unable to provide for his or her own needs. Caregiver is the generic term used for the direct service providers in Community Care and Support Services (CCS).


	COMMUNITY A specific group of people living in the same locality and who may share a common culture, values, and norms. Communities can also be defined by race, religion, ethnicity, age, occupation, political status, tribal affiliation, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The term "community" encompasses worksites, schools, tribes, residential neighborhoods, business districts, recreational areas, and health and human service sites.


	CASE A general term used to designate clients (including individuals, families, and groups) served by an organization for purposes of monitoring the provision of services. A foster care case is generally based on the placement of an individual child, although casework for the child may include services to the child's family. A child protective services case is based on an entire family household if a family assessment model is used; otherwise a case is defined as a child.


	ENTITLEMENT A state or condition of being entitled, or a right to benefits specified by law or contract. In the United States, "entitlements" generally refer to government programs that provide financial assistance and healthcare services to members of specified groups, such as the elderly or persons with disabilities.


	MANAGEMENT See ADMINISTRATION