Community Based Rehabilitation Services

The year was 1989; Anoka County was diversifying and expanding community support services. Diane Ollendick Wright applied for and was granted a community support program grant for in-home services. Community Options reorganized and developed the Supportive Living Services (SLS) program in May 1990. It was the beginning of a significant change in how services were viewed and offered. Program services would be available in an array of living environments rather than within institutional and group residential walls.

The program began small. Shortly after opening, the SLS program began partnering with Community Options to offer services to those individuals placed for long periods of time in the State Hospital and in nursing homes. SLS worked with the Anoka Alternative Grant Program (serving individuals from the Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center and the OBRA Nursing Home Relocation Program) for the County. The program added staff and was working with 84 individuals.

In September 1992, SLS responded to a Request for Proposal in Hennepin County to work with the Anoka Alternative and OBRA individuals in an intensive community support model in Hennepin County. The agency was awarded the new contract and services were now expanded to serve 105 individuals. At this juncture, the SLS program became its own company, Supportive Living Services, Inc.

Assertive Community Treatment

Since its inception in 1992, the SLS service in Hennepin has had the opportunity to operate as a twenty-four hour, seven-day program. Designed from the start with a crisis/coaching support line, the program was able to provide intensive in-home services with telephone accessibility and proactive outreach for medication reminders, check-ins, and skill coaching. In 1998, the program developed an integrated service design with Northwest Residence and together they established a goal to offer intensive residential, crisis residential (closed in 2005 when Northwest Residence transitioned to intensive residential treatment), phone support, and in-home services.

In July 1999, Supportive Living Services Hennepin was granted authorization to develop an intensive Targeted Team Case Management service in conjunction with the Hennepin County Case Managers. Effective July 2003, the agency began to offer contracted Target Case Management independently of the County.

Targeted Case Management services were transitioned into an Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) service in March 2005. Service capacity is 105.

Ivy Apartments

In November 2005, Ivy Apartments opened as an intentional community to support individuals who are receiving Assertive Community Treatment or who are transitioning from Northwest Residence. Rental subsidies are provided via the site based transitional subsidy program and housing support services are offered.

History of Accreditation

Since August 2000, Supportive Living Services has voluntarily chosen to become accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) – Psychosocial Rehabilitation Program: Assertive Community Treatment, Case Management, and Supported Living.