Community Living
Supports and Services

The Arc Caddo-Bossier’s Community Living Supports and Services (CLSS) program provides a range of training and supportive services designed to help people of all ages live as independently as possible in their own homes. All services are developed based on the needs of the person and are designed to maximize their skills and abilities and build self-esteem.

The services offered through CLSS are typically Home and Community Based Waiver Services (HCBS) and are accessed through a variety of programs offered throug the Louisiana Department of Health Office for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities (OCDD) and Office for Aging Adult Services (OAAS).

Long Term Personal Care Service

Long Term Personal Care (LTPC) provides support and assistance with daily living and activities. Individuals 65 and older, or 21 and older with disabilities, are eligible for people who qualify for assistance under the program guidelines.

Activities of daily living are activities related to personal care, such as bathing/showering, dressing, getting in and out of bed or a chair, walking, eating and using the restroom. This program does not provide supports 24 hours a day.

This program help with these services:

  • Eating

  • Bathing

  • Dressing

  • Grooming (brushing hair, teeth, washing face, etc.)

  • Moving from one surface to another

  • Walking or using a wheelchair

  • Toileting

  • Changing positions in bed

Other Services:

  • Light housekeeping

  • Cooking and storing meals

  • Shopping

  • Laundry

  • Reminders about taking medicines

  • Help with medical appointments

  • Help finding transportation for medical appointments

Children’s Choice

The Children's Choice Waiver (CC) program provides services in the home and in the community to individuals from birth through 20 years of age, who currently live at home with their families or who will leave an institution to return home. This waiver provides an individualized support package with a maximum cost of $20,650 per year, and is designed for maximum flexibility.

This program is not intended to provide 24 hours a day support

This program help with these services:

• Support Coordination
• Family Support
• Crisis Support
• Center-Based Respite
• Family Training
• Environmental Accessibility Adaptions
• Specialized Medical Equipment
• Permanent Supportive Housing Stabilization and Transition

Therapy Services

• Aquatic Therapy
• Art Therapy
• Music Therapy
• Hippo-Therapy/Therapeutic Horseback Riding
• Sensory Integration

Supported Independent Living (SIL)

The Supported Independent Living (SIL) Program allows people with long-term disabilities to live at home independently. The program provides this service for individuals with disabilities from birth through adulthood who live at home and require specialized physical assistance.

Our Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) serve as personal care attendants, providing program participants with vital living support and the ability to maintain independence. In these programs, we encourage those we serve to pursue individual interests and become involved in a variety of social and recreational opportunities in order to promote fellowship, friendship and connection. SIL can be a 24 hours a day service, depending on the participant’s qualifications.

Some of the services offered as part of our PCS program include:

  • Mobility

  • Bathing/grooming

  • Dressing/undressing

  • Feeding

  • Toileting

In addition to support for fundamental functioning, our care professionals work with participants to improve independence in daily living. This can include:

  • Housework

  • Money management

  • Taking medication as prescribed

  • Transportation within the community

  • Shopping

Community Choice Waiver

This program provides services in a home or community-based setting and can be provided up to 24 hours a day, depending on the participant’s qualifications. Recipients must be age 65 and older or age 21 and older with a disability (according to Medicaid standards or SSI disability criteria).

Services are provided in the participant’s home, or in the family’s home if the participant is living with family, and include:

  • Assistance with Personal Hygiene

  • Cleaning their Home Environment

  • Assistance with Daily Tasks & more

Respite Care

CLSS offers in-home and out-of home respite care services to people of all ages who qualify. The program promotes balance in the lives of caregivers. The Arc Caddo-Bossier’s Respite Guest Home is located in a residential neighborhood in Bossier City, Louisiana, and provides a comfortable, friendly, home-like environment.

For over four decades, The Arc of Caddo-Bossier has offered families of our region a “home away from home” for loved ones with disabilities. This is the only Respite Center in all of Region 7.

For more information regarding Community Supports and Services (CLSS), contact Sandy Pippenger at 318.221.8392, ext. 299 or spippenger@thearccaddobossier.org.