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Program Life vs. Community Life

Module 10: Community Integration and Natural Supports · Lesson 1 of 3

11 min Back to module

Story opener

Thursday, 4:40 p.m. A participant is sitting across from you, your supervisor wants three notes before you leave, and the answer you need is not in any binder on the shelf. This lesson is the part of the job nobody handed you in orientation.

Learning objectives

  • Be able to prefer integrated over segregated settings
  • Be able to measure supports that survive discharge

Lesson

Success is measured in ordinary places.

A full program calendar can quietly become a substitute community. Ask a hard question quarterly: which of this person's relationships and activities would survive if our program closed?

Target integrated settings where people without disabilities are also present in ordinary roles.

Maryland guidance & authority labels

Every statement below is labeled so you know what is binding regulation, what is only proposed, what is professional guidance, and what is our house standard.

  • PRA guidance

    Community integration is measured by ordinary community roles and relationships, not by outings attended.

  • Internal best practice

    Plan every community session with a target skill, a fading plan, and an exit condition before you leave the office.

Common mistakes

  • Describing what you did without describing what the participant did.

    Do this instead — Record the intervention and the participant's observable response to it.

  • Treating regulation as a filing chore separate from practice.

    Do this instead — Let the required elements shape the session itself, so documentation writes itself.

Practical examples

Practical example

Instead of 'met with participant to discuss goals,' write: 'Reviewed the transportation objective; participant identified the #22 route unassisted and named one back-up plan. Verbal prompt needed once. Next session: practice the transfer at Mondawmin.'

Key takeaways

  • Prefer integrated over segregated settings
  • Measure supports that survive discharge

Reflection prompts

  1. 1Which part of this lesson describes something you are already doing differently in practice?
  2. 2What would an auditor see in your last five notes that contradicts this standard?

Bring your answers to supervision — the case-study workspace in this module saves written notes to your account.

Knowledge check

4 questions drawn from a bank of 7 · 75% to pass · instant feedback on every answer

1. Which additional point does "Program Life vs. Community Life" emphasize?

2. Which outing is documented as rehabilitation rather than recreation?

3. A colleague does this: Describing what you did without describing what the participant did. What should they do instead?

4. How should you treat this statement? "Plan every community session with a target skill, a fading plan, and an exit condition before you leave the office."