Even people with the severest disabilities should have the option of living independently. Being fully integrated into the community has been a primary goal of people with disabilities, their families, and advocates for decades. Yet in Israel, as in many countries, housing options – outside of a government-funded institution or nursing home – are extremely limited. Over the past few years, Israel Unlimited has developed a continuum of independent living solutions for people with every type of disability from physical or sensory disability to intellectual and developmental delay, autism, and mental health disability. Supported Housing and Expanded Supported Housing provide tailored baskets of services and a network of support that help participants every step of the way. Affordable Housing offers people with disabilities the promise of a permanent home. Smart Homes gives people with disabilities the capacity to function more independently within their personal space, wherever that is.

Our housing pilot programmes are at various stages of implementation. Supported Housing, operating since 2012, has achieved full capacity. In 2019, Israel Unlimited began creating a knowledge kit to facilitate handover to the Government of Israel in late 2020. Another important step: several independent living counselors with disabilities were hired (one has cerebral palsy and one is hearing impaired and speaks sign language). Given the success of Supported Housing, Israel Unlimited is advancing the expanded model, which reaches out to people with more complex levels of functioning. Affordable Housing is also in early stages; Israel Unlimited is working with a variety of partners to amass the resources necessary to purchase apartments, creating long term, stable, and independent housing for people with disabilities. Finally, Smart Homes – which exemplifies Israel Unlimited’s person-centered approach by utilizing assistive technologies – will transition into a larger pilot in 2020.

The main partners in these housing programmes include the National Insurance Institute; Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, and Social Services; and Ministry of Construction and Housing, all of which can leverage the resources necessary to create an infrastructure for Supported Housing/Expanded Supported Housing, and to procure apartments for Affordable Housing. Partners in Smart Homes also include the Ministry of Finance and Digital Israel, a branch of the Ministry of Social Equality.

Beneficiaries of Israel Unlimited’s independent living programmes are people with all types of disabilities who would otherwise find it difficult, if not impossible, to live in their own homes within the community; these programmes provide participants with the wherewithal to live independently in the community. Families of people with disabilities are supported in what can be an emotionally difficult transition. And communities become more inclusive and accepting of people with disabilities.

To date, 350 people with disabilities have participated in Supported Housing and another 105 candidates are undergoing intake; 52 participants have moved into their own homes and progressed enough to “graduate”. Expanded Supported Housing is in early stages and has only two active members in northern Israel; the programme will be expanded to Jerusalem in 2020, with plans to enroll a total of 16 participants before embarking on a larger pilot of 100 people. Affordable Housing is also still in the development stage, with only the first two apartments acquired so far. Smart Homes is in the pre-pilot stage and no evaluative results are available. User research conducted on Israelis with disabilities found that while only 44% used assistive technologies, 68% of those reported that the device had improved their independence. The programme aims to raise awareness among people with disabilities about the benefits of assistive technologies and then provide them with the ability to acquire them.

Our most pervasive challenge has been the need to change attitudes and mindsets. There is still a general belief in Israel that living in institutions is the best solution for people with disabilities. The Ministry of Finance thinks it is more economically efficient and municipalities think the programmes are too burdensome. Landlords are reluctant to rent to people with disabilities and family members are afraid of letting their siblings and children live alone and navigate independently through life. These mindsets are even more entrenched when it comes to people with more severe disabilities. And in the geographic periphery, where families and municipalities have fewer resources, it is even harder for them to accept the premises of the innovation. Israel Unlimited's response has been to change attitudes by showing, not just telling. Organisers have seen significant changes in mindset take place in the communities that have partnered with them in implementing their programmes.

A basic condition for the success of our programmes is affordability. The Israeli housing market makes it extremely difficult for someone with low income to rent an apartment due to the high rents, the fact that landlords typically only sign year leases, the scarcity of studio apartments, and that government subsidies are granted in higher proportion to institutional living arrangements. In response, the JDC developed the Affordable Housing program in order to facilitate access to long term independent living.

Another condition for success is that our government partners need to be on board with our innovations. Israeli government ministries tend to work in silos; people with disabilities receive benefits and services from the ministries of housing, welfare, and social security, separately. Organisers need to bring these ministries together to work holistically. They need them to work together to change funding policy to afford people the opportunity to live in the community instead of institutions.

As mentioned above, Israel Unlimited is taking steps to turn Supported Housing over to the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, and Social Services in late 2020. The staff has begun development of a knowledge kit: a writer has been selected, meetings have been held to define the goals of the kit, and focus groups with regional and local professionals have been convened. Moreover, the proficiencies and tools developed for the programme have been adapted to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF). Finally, intensive discussions have been held with various regional and local agencies to discuss the transition process. Once the feasibility of Expanded Supported Housing is verified, a similar process will be followed for government handover. Because of its scope, Affordable Housing is being implemented in full partnership with the Ministry of Housing and options for scale-ability are being explored. Smart Homes is in pre-pilot with the goal of replication.

Listen to people with disabilities and their families. They have the knowledge of what they need. As an example, organisers learned from the families that caregiving was an area of service that needed improvement, as caregivers would sometimes leave without warning. Caregivers needed professional development, and organisers needed to facilitate knowledge exchanges within the caregiver community for them to learn and support one another.

Don't be afraid. Someone who tries to develop something new must be brave enough to try and maybe fail. When organisers started the programme, everyone told them that people with disabilities cannot live independently. People said they were wrong to want to take people out of institutions, that it would never work. They had fears that not only would their attempt not work, but that it would make things worse for people with disabilities. But since starting, organisers have successfully brought 60 people out of institutions. They will continue to do so, with greater confidence that they are on the right path. They realised that the same fearlessness must apply to their outlook toward people with disabilities themselves.

Always be learning. See what is happening around the world. Go and learn new models. Get in touch with other organizations. Be curious. Organisers visited the U.S. to see their models. They made connections with experts there and in Europe, who they can now reach out to with questions. Organisers learned about technology—what was available, how to utilize it, and how it could increase economic efficiency by displacing caregiver costs. The whole notion that it would be more effective to transition people from institutions into the community despite it being more costly in the short term was something that organisers learned abroad. It was these sorts of insights that they learned from mentors and partners abroad that gave them the courage to lead the change at home.

Supported Housing was selected as a Zero Project innovation in the past.