Moving Into the Community
updated December 4, 2024

My Vault

:

Planning Path

My Day, My Life

Planning Path: My Day, My Life

A Vault path with a series of short activities to help you describe things you do, and how you might use help when you do them.

Watch tutorial

.

Go To Path

A big concern you may have when thinking about leaving a facility or group home is how you will get the care you need. If you want to live in the community, there are programs that can provide a lot of the services you would get at a facility, but in your own place, including help with things like:

  • Bathing
  • Home-delivered meals
  • Taking medication
  • Transportation, and
  • 24-hour skilled nursing care.

You can decide whether you want to manage the people who help you, or whether you want an agency to manage them for you.

Learn more about the services you can get at home.

Paying for Your Care at Home

There are programs that can help you pay for these ongoing care services in your own home. You can get a free evaluation of what services and programs might help you. Contact your local county or tribal human services office and ask to be reviewed for long-term care services. This review is called a MnCHOICES assessment.

Anybody who thinks they might need long-term services can ask for this, even if they don’t qualify for any benefits. Within 20 business days, the county must send an assessor over to review your situation and see which long-term care programs or services might help you.

During this review, the assessor will help you compare the options of living in a facility or in the community with the help of different programs, such as MA-Waiver programs, Medical Assistance (MA), or personal care assistance (PCA) services.

If you might be eligible for any of these programs, the assessor will help you get started with the application. Even if you are not eligible for public benefits, this review can help you understand what services, accommodations, and resources exist.

Even though public programs can help you pay to get many services in your home, there are some levels of care that public programs do not pay for you to get at home. It is important to talk to the staff at the facility you live in and the person helping coordinate your move about the details of the kind of care you need and how it would be paid for if you move. You should have these conversations early on to find out if it is possible for you to get the services you need in the community.

To learn more about the programs that can help you pay for getting your care at home, read the HB101 articles on MA-Waiver programs, and personal care assistance (PCA) services.

You may qualify for new benefits when you live at home

Living in your own home may help you qualify for some new benefits, such as help paying for your housing, SNAP, or help with energy bills. Visit DB101 and Chat with a Hub expert or call the Senior LinkAge Line® (SLL) at 1-800-333-2433 to learn more about the benefits that could help you afford living on your own.