Centers for Independent Living
There are 17 CILs in Pennsylvania and the PA SILC works to promote and strengthen these Centers.
From NCIL.org:
“Centers for Independent Living are community-based, cross-disability, non-profit organizations that are designed and operated by people with disabilities. CILs are unique in that they operate according to a strict philosophy of consumer control, wherein people with all types of disabilities directly govern and staff the organization.
Centers for Independent Living were created to be run by and for people with disabilities, and offer support, advocacy, and information on empowerment in the attainment of independence from a peer viewpoint, a perspective that was hitherto excluded from participation in the discussion and execution of ‘services for the disabled.'”
Services Provided by PA CILs:
A CIL provides, at a minimum, the following core services:
- Information & Referral
- Independent Living Skills Training
- Individual and Systems Advocacy
- Peer Counseling
In addition, federally-funded CIL’s provide either one or both of these services:
- Transition assistance from nursing homes and other institutions to community-based residences / Assisting individuals to avoid institutional placement
- Transition of youth with significant disabilities after completion of secondary education to postsecondary life.
Centers for Independent Living in Pennsylvania also provide the following services: (this is a combined list, not all CILs provide each of these services)
- Accessibility Education
- ADA Accessibility Guidelines/Technical Compliance, Consulting & Training
- Adaptive Sports Programs
- ADRC-LINK (Pennsylvania Link to Aging and Disability Resources)
- Adult Autism Waiver
- Advocacy – Individual and Systems
- Agency with Choice
- APPRISE
- Assistive Technology Lending Libraries (ATLL)
- Assistive Technology Resource Center (ATRC) with the PA Initiative on Assistive
Technology (PIAT) - Assistive Technology Resource Centers (ATRC)
- Assistive Technology Reuse Programs
- Assistive Technology Services
- Attendant Care Services
- Benefits Counseling
- Care Management/Service Coordination
- Certified Deaf Interpreters
- Child Care Center
- Children’s Services
- Communication Services
- Community Accessibility
- Community Based Waivers (HCBS)
- Community Education / Disability Awareness Programs
- Community Groups
- Community Housing Development
- Community Integration Services
- Computer Lab
- Consumer Library
- Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services
- DHHS Case Management
- Disability Publications
- Disability Sensitivity and Awareness Training
- Durable Medical Equipment Program
- Emergency Preparedness
- Employment Services (OVR)
- Fair Housing
- Family Services
- Financial Management Services (FMS)
- Firefighter/Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Disability Awareness Training
- Fitness Center
- Gaining Real Opportunity for Work (GROW)
- Health and Wellness Programs
- Home Access Ramps
- Home and Community Based Waivers (HCBS)
- Home Modification Assessments, Consulting
- Home Modification Services
- Housing Case Management
- Housing Counseling
- Independent Living Skills Training
- Independent Monitoring for Quality (IM4Q)
- Information and Referral
- Interpreter Referral
- Job Coaching
- Landlord Education
- Lending an Ear Program
- Living Well Fitness Services
- Living Well Navigator Services
- Living Well Transport Services
- Loan Equipment Assistance Program (LEAP)
- Mobility Training
- Nursing Home Resident Services
- Nursing Home Transition
- Nutrition and Lifestyle Training
- Peer Mentoring and Peer Support
- Person Centered Counseling (PCC)
- Personal Assistance Services (PAS)
- Personal Emergency Response System
- Pre-Employment Transition Services (STARS)
- Pre-Vocational Services
- Professional Consultation and Trainings
- Recreational Services
- Resource Library
- Service Coordination
- Sign Language Interpreter Referral
- Social Security Assistance
- Technical Assistance
- Teens Taking Flight
- Telecommunication Device Distribution Programs (TDDP)
- Ticket to Work
- Translation Services
- Transportation Assistance
- Transportation Services
- Vehicle Adaptations & Modifications / Accessible Vehicles
- Vendor Payment Services
- Veteran Services
- Videophone Program
- Voter Registration
- Wheelchair Repairs
- Youth Transition Services
