Your home. Your preferences. Your life.
Adult Housing, Residential Communities & Independent Living
Find a place to call home, with the support that fits your life.
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No comparable village or intentional residential campus within the eight covered counties has been verified in this review. Local campus-based apartment buildings appear under Apartments; ordinary group homes remain under Homes.
A practical place to begin
Plan for a home, before a crisis.
Begin with the adult’s choices and everyday support needs. Housing, rent assistance and care services are separate parts of a plan; approval for one does not guarantee the others.
1. Start with OPWDD’s Front Door
Call 866-946-9733 and ask for the Front Door office serving your county. Staff explain eligibility and planning. An autism diagnosis alone does not establish eligibility.
Front Door & multilingual videos →
Official eligibility process →
2. Gather records & build your support plan
Ask Front Door which diagnostic, developmental, psychological and adaptive-functioning records are required. Work with the appropriate care coordination team to document the person’s goals, communication, healthcare and daily assistance. Review Medicaid and waiver requirements for the services being sought.
OPWDD: getting services →3. Compare housing and funding pathways
Explore supports at home, independent apartments, housing subsidies, integrated supportive housing and certified residences. For certified residential services, ask the care manager about the regional residential referral / CRO process, priority assessment and available providers. Placement can involve long waits; eligibility does not guarantee a chosen home or an immediate placement.
OPWDD Housing Supports →4. Apply, visit & plan for the long term
Confirm current intake directly with each program. Tour the specific residence, ask for a written staffing and cost breakdown, and involve the adult using their preferred communication. Record backup caregivers, emergency plans, future oversight and changing support needs.
Future planning & Letter of Intent →
HUD: find your housing authority →
More than a floor plan
Questions to bring on a visit
- Can I choose my roommate, have privacy, invite visitors and keep relationships and routines?
- How does staff listen to nonspeaking adults? Can my AAC device stay with me, charged and available?
- Who helps with toileting, bathing, meals and medication? Is assistance respectful and individualized?
- Is overnight staff awake, asleep or on call? What happens if a staff member is absent?
- Can this home follow my seizure plan, give prescribed rescue medication and respond to emergencies?
- How are sensory needs and distress supported? What are the policies on restraint, restrictions and leaving the property?
- Are paths, doors, bathrooms and evacuation procedures accessible to me? How is controlled access balanced with choice?
- What are rent, utilities, food, transportation, tuition and optional-service costs? Which are covered in writing?
- How can I report a concern, privately seek help or get an independent advocate? How are family visits handled?
- What will happen if my needs change or my current caregiver can no longer help?
Understand the different housing systems
Developmental-disability residences and OPWDD housing supports have their own eligibility and service pathways. Psychiatric supportive housing has different referral and clinical criteria; it is not an interchangeable autism residential program. Senior assisted living is a separate model. An independent apartment or a staff-supported home can suit different people; the level of help matters more than the building’s name.
Properties with senior and developmental-disability apartments, such as Oyster Bay Gardens, have unit-specific requirements. They are not presented here as senior assisted living.
Provider networks are shown separately from named properties. General coverage does not confirm a home in every neighborhood. Real property photos will be used only where reuse is authorized; current card illustrations describe a setting and do not depict the actual property. Official websites provide program imagery.
Existing CalAsh housing guide → · Existing NJ DDD resource →