Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation seeks $215,000-a-year pilot for independent living assessment for people with disabilities

Pat Jonas, chief executive officer of the Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation of Kansas, told the Committee on Social Services Budget about GELA, the "Bridal Independent Living Assessment" program the foundation developed to help higher-functioning adults with neurological and physical disabilities test living in HUD-subsidized apartments.

Jonas said the program arose from parent requests and the scarcity of short-term transitional options for adults who are not immediately ready for independent tenancy in Section 8 units. The foundation rebuilt its apartments and added two extra units to pilot the program.

"We started a program called GELA... which is a 6 week program that basically will allow... different skill sets for living at home, like money management, safety, cooking, [and] using public transportation," Jonas said. He said Wichita State University developed an assessment tool for the program and that the foundation partnered with the Independent Living Center in Wichita to avoid duplicating services.

Jonas provided operational figures: 37 clients entered the program; 30 completed the six-week training; the program has capacity for four clients per six-week cohort (two two-bedroom apartments), which translates to about 20–24 clients per year. He said the foundation has spent roughly $500,000 on the program internally and requested $215,000 per year for three years to pilot the model further; about $50,000 of the requested annual funding would cover third-party evaluation and assessment by Wichita State University.

A parent, David (Dave) Kemp of Derby, described his 32-year-old son Ethan's experience in GELA. Kemp said his son, diagnosed with high-functioning autism, lived in an apartment with a roommate for six weeks, completed the program, and the program's assessments and mentoring gave the family confidence that Ethan could take steps toward living outside the parental home.

Committee members asked about program capacity, follow-up and long-term outcomes. Jonas said Wichita State conducts six- and 12-month follow-ups and that the foundation performs ongoing informal follow-up with participants. Jonas said some participants do not complete the program and that in one case a participant left the same day, which in the foundation's view indicated the program had correctly identified that the person was not ready for independent living.

Ending: Jonas and Kemp said they would be available for further questions; committee members did not take formal action during the hearing.