Individual Budgets are central to our efforts to support people as individual citizens.

Each person deserves the right to make decisions that affect their own lives. To do this they must know what resources are available to them, and then make decisions based on what they want to do, what they will need to do it, and what is available.

Based on the individual's person centered plan, Neighbours Inc. assists each person we support, and the important people in their life, in preparing a proposal to NJ-DDD for an individual support budget.

Many people we support have never had the opportunity to make decisions because they have never been seen as people who could be in charge of their own lives. This does not mean that they have to do it alone, it just means that they have a say about what they want to do. It means that they have an opportunity to make decisions and learn about being responsible for their lives.

So one of the things we do at Neighbours is support people (and their support circle) in creating a plan, figuring out how much it will cost, developing a proposal for funds, and keep track of how they are spending the money they receive.

If things cost more than we thought, we help people to identify why it is costing more. We explore with them how we can support them to make changes to live within their budget. If there is nothing that can be done to lower costs, we help create a proposal for a budget modification.

Each person we work for receives a monthly statement from Neighbours that shows them how much money they received based on their proposal, how much money they have spent, and how much they have left to spend. Then our Managers and Advisors work with them to make sure that they do not spend more than they have available.

Sandi Cooper
Director
Neighbours Inc. (NJ)

Email: sandi.cooper@earthlink.net
Phone: (908) 581-3998
Fax: (267) 375-4103