What are the disabilities? Many group homes provide long term care for children or adults who are able to function with some kind of support. They may be able live at home, care for themselves or even maintain some kind of job. All with the help of a family member or in home staff.  There may also be specific support for the parents of a special needs child and free resources for the parents of a disabled child.

There are many terms for a person who is mentally or physically disabled. Some refer to these special individuals as profoundly disabled. Or today's term may be alternatively abled.  The levels of disability are also as varied as the terms. The more technical term would be called Profoundly IDD or Profoundly Intellectually Disabled.  Whatever the term, it breaks down to our disabled children being mostly non verbal and requiring  full daily living assistance. 

The disabled children who come to Hope House in Liberty Hill are not capable of doing any of the above tasks by themselves.  A full time staff of 54 direct care workers devote their time to attending for every need of our disabled residents.  If you will, imagine a 12-18 month old in big body.  All of our residents require specific treatments for their physical ailments and conditions.  The staff work in three shifts a day to cover 24/7 care. They must feed, cloth, bath and toilet the residents.  The homes get intense at times. But staff remain calm and provide constant supervision day and night. It's a huge task. One that requires patience, caring and loving skills to work here.

 Where do they come from? When parents can’t or won’t take care of their children the State agencies in charge of child care take over. There are many single mom’s who can no longer provide the intense care their child needs and they partner with the State. Some parents are doing drugs and alcohol . In these cases, the State steps in to take custody. 

What's so unique about Hope House? One of the most unique features of Hope House is the long term care provided. Some of the children who our founder cared for in the mid 60's are still with us today! That is long term care. It is something that is lacking in our State system for child care.  Simply put there are not enough homes like Hope House. Instead of being shuffled from one institution or facility to another, the disabled people here stay for as long as they need us.  We become their family and give them the opportunity to achieve their potential. We are there for them every step of the way. Most all of our children attend special needs classes at the local public school. 

The usual length of stay is until they are 16 to 19 yrs. They then move into a State program called Home and Community Services. (HCS) We have three such homes where our current residents can move into when they reach the teenage level. We are building our fifth home this year in 2022. While there are some HCS homes in the State,  our four homes are special because we have had the child so long that all the elements are in place now. The child has bonded with the staff, is familiar with his peers and his surroundings. Thus, he feels and is safe, clean and healthy. It's just like a family.

Unfortunately, many other HCS homes do not take care of the level we do. Many are for profit companies and prefer to take care of the lesser level of disability.  So we concentrate on the higher levels. We take on the younger, higher needs children.  We give them speech and physical therapy and we provide for everything they need when they need it. We truly are their forever home.

Is there a wait list? We actually don't have one per say. While we do remain at capacity, it is the guardians of these children who have a wait time. That can be as long as 12 years or more. This time reflects the fact that our resident usually don't leave and there are not enough permanent homes in Texas.  Our kids live with us an average of 8 years before they move on to the HSC homes then live there an average of 50 years.

What are your future plans? To expand as much as feasible. Since the older residents don't leave we remain full. The concern is that we will not have beds available when our younger children reach the age they need to move into the HCS program and homes. It's doubtful that a for profit or the State agency will make major changes to the system to give them a forever home. They don't fair well in foster homes due to the constant supervision, special treatment care they need so often.  It will be up to concerned citizens to help Hope House expand by building more homes. If you would like more information or want to know how you can help expand, please contact us.