Supports are available in North Dakota to eligible families of persons with developmental disabilities. These
supports are designed to help families:

• Meet the needs of the family member with a disability
• Stay together and avoid out of home placement
• Get a break or respite from the demands of care

In Home Supports:  An authorization for the services of a specialized caregiver to provide in home support for
eligible children and adults living in the family home. The specialized family support provider must be hired
through a licensed service provider and must complete training as required by the Department of Human
services. Options include:

1.    Someone to stay with the person with DD so the primary caregiver can leave and have a break. This is
called respite care and does not include paid child care during working hours.
2.    Someone to stay with the person with DD while the primary caregiver is home, but must attend to other
children or duties or get a rest.

Family Care Option:  Uses a licensed foster home to provide out of home placement for a child on a full or
part-time basis. This may be used when a family needs more than a few hours a week of relief care. Sometimes
a family may not be able to maintain the child in the home seven full days, but could manage three or four. Again,
a licensed provider must supervise the licensed foster home that provides support for only persons with DD.
Various levels of support are available.

Families seeking detailed information about in-home supports, or family care options and their eligibility for
those supports, should contact the Human Service Center nearest to them and ask for the DD Administrator.