1100  Background

House Bill 1154, 70th Legislature, and Senate Bill 1509, 71st Legislature, established the In-Home and Family Support Program (IHFSP).

The IHFSP provides direct grant benefits to individuals four years of age and older with physical disabilities and their families. The benefits are used to purchase equipment, items and services that enable the individual to live independently in the community.

1200  Mission of the Program

In fulfilling the program mission to support people with disabilities in living in the community and preventing institutionalization, the In-Home and Family Support Program is designed to:

• foster independent choices by persons with a disability in the selection of services to be provided;
• assist such persons to live independently in situations most like those experienced by persons without disabilities;
• uphold the value of the family and the dignity, pride and the independence of the individual; and
• support the family as the primary mainstay for many persons with disabilities.

1300  Principles of the Program

• The program empowers the individual and the individual's family to make decisions about their service needs, and to select services from within the program's service array and benefit limits that meet their needs.
• The program supports services that integrate individuals into community life.
• The program supports services designed to prevent deterioration of the individual's conditions.
• The individual, the individual's family and the provider of services negotiate the delivery of services. The individual and the individual's family have overriding responsibility to determine the quality of services. Flexibility in service delivery to meet the unique needs identified by the individual is a priority.
• The program encourages innovation of new services based on the individual, as identified by the individual.
• Barriers to service access are minimized.
• The program supplements but does not supplant existing services or funding sources.
• The program allows individuals with disabilities to exercise their options and encourages personal responsibility of individuals while following through on their choices.