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Setting up a group home requires careful planning and forethought. That's why it's a good idea to work with someone who has experience with the requirements and potential pitfalls.

 

At Group Home Pros, we help you navigate the obstacles that might bog you down, confuse you or otherwise keep you from getting your home up and running.

 

Below are a few of the things you will need, and a few examples of requirements you'll have to meet and consider.

 

Requirements/Considerations:

    1

Determine if you will establish the group home as a nonprofit organization. Some group homes don’t make money on providing a home and care for its residents, so they become nonprofit organizations. You too can get 501(c)(3) status by filing the required papers with the IRS. You need to establish a board of directors and create the bylaws or articles governing your organization. In addition you want to apply for tax exempt status with the IRS.

    2

Secure funding to start a group home. It takes money to start a group home. Not only must you come up with the finances to get a house, you also must furnish it, pay staff wages, and pay for living expenses such as utilities, food, and cleaning supplies. If you’ve established your group home as a nonprofit organization, individuals can make donations to your organization that they can write off on their taxes.

    3

Find a house to serve as the group home. Ideally you want to find a house that you can purchase or can be donated by a private individual since chances are you want to make changes to the house to accommodate residents. Some individuals are in wheelchairs, so you may need to find a house that is handicap accessible or make changes to it to accommodate the individuals living there. Before selecting a house to serve as the group home, you can survey neighbors and area residents about their thoughts and feelings towards having a group home in their community. A neighborhood that doesn’t support the idea may not be the right place for your group home.

    4

Obtain insurance for home and organization. Commercial property insurance is needed to protect the group home while commercial general liability insurance can be used to protect your organization.

    5

Purchase equipment and items for the group home. Individuals moving into the group home often have furniture and personal items they want to keep in their bedrooms, but you need to furnish the common living areas in the home. In addition you may need to make changes to accommodate any physical disablities or difficulties a mentally challenged person has.

    6

Hire staff to work or live in the home. The level of mental or developmental disabilities present in the house, if any, will determine how many staff need to be at the group home at a particular time and whether or not they can live in.

    7

Find people to move into the house. Once you have everything in place and the house is ready to go, you can begin moving people in. When creating your bylaws or articles for governing your organization, you should have established the process and requirements for residents to be part of your group home. You will need to use those to determine who you serve and who can move in.

    8

Help individuals learn new tasks. It’s important that individuals in group homes have goals to obtain and work towards. They should be involved in helping to set these goals since they are often based on their own personal preferences.

    9

Maintain accurate records and keep them confidential. Since you are caring for other individuals it’s important that you keep records on each person living in the group home. If there is ever a problem social services will review the records as well as investigate the home and having them up-to-date and accurate can prevent a lot of problems. In addition you should take the steps necessary to ensure that the records remain confidential since they often contain both personal and medical information.

    Tips & Warnings

  • If you have residents in your group home taking any type of medication, you need to keep it stored in a locked drawer or cabinet that only staff can access.
  • You can check with your state department of social services to determine if your nonprofit organization qualifies for receiving state funding per individual living in your group home since they are disabled.

Now that you've seen some of what we can assist you with in starting your group home, why not contact us today?
 
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