Home & Community Habilitation

Description of service provided:

Home and Community Habilitation is a direct service that consists of services designed to assist individuals in acquiring, retaining, and improving the self-help, socialization, and adaptive skills necessary to reside successfully in home and community-based settings. Habilitation may be provided up to 24 hours a day to ensure the individual’s health and welfare, based upon the needs of the individual. This is a service that may be provided to people in their own home, or in other residential or community settings not subject to licensing regulations.

Specific goals may include but are not limited to:

  • Enhance problem solving skills, safety, coping, and decision-making skills
  • Enhance social skill, anger management, and effective communication skills to enhance positive interactions with others in the community
  • Development of self-preservation skills necessary to assure individual safety in the community
  • Assistance developing independent living skills; including: cooking, shopping, housekeeping, budgeting/money management, personal hygiene etc.
  • Assistance in pursuing a healthy lifestyle (food choices and exercise)

Through the provision of this service individuals learn, maintain, or improve skills through their participation in a variety of everyday life activities. They learn and use skills in the context of these activities: this can be considered a functional approach to the delivery of services. These activities must be necessary for individuals to live in the community, to live more independently, or to be more productive and participatory in community life. Services must be provided in a manner that ensures the person’s health and welfare.

Dickinson Center, Inc. has been certified as a Qualified Provider of these services by the Cameron/Elk Behavioral & Development Program and the Office of Developmental Programs.

Geographic area of service:

Potter County Adult Development Training Building.
Home and Community Habilitation services are provided to individuals that reside in
Elk, Cameron, and Potter/McKean counties of Pennsylvania.

Admission Criteria:

Adults & children that are on Waiver through the Cameron/Elk Behavioral & Development Programs may be eligible for this program.

How to Access Service:

Persons interested in services must contact the local administrative entity (AE). The AE in collaboration with Supports Coordination will work with the individual and their family in meeting financial eligibility requirements.

In Elk and Cameron County, interested individuals may contact the Cameron/Elk Behavioral & Development Programs at 814.772.8016. In Potter county, interested individuals may contact Potter County Human Services at 814.544.7315.
In McKean county please contact McKean County Human Services 814.887.3469.

Address and Hours of Operation:

Services are provided in a number of home and community settings. Activities can be scheduled throughout the course of the day to include evenings and weekends.

How Individuals Pay for the Service:

Applicants may be determined eligible for funding provided through the Department of Public Welfare, Office of Developmental Programs, and local Administrative Entities such as the Cameron/Elk Behavioral & Development Programs, and Potter County Human Services.

Payment for services may be rendered through the Consolidated Waiver, Person/Family Driven Waiver, Mental Retardation Base Dollars, Private Pay, and Human Service Development Funds. Waiver dollars are a combination of federal and state money. Mental Retardation money comes directly from the local County office.