The Amber Grace Admissions Process

Potential Neighbor Interest Form

Amber Grace Community is an excellent choice for individuals with mild intellectual and developmental disabilities to live independently with support systems that are as indiscernible as possible. We seek to serve adults who have mastered all their ADLs, but require support for higher level decision making in regards to their personal health, financial guidance, and safety within their community.  Our main focus is the growth and personal development potential of each Neighbor addressed daily through our NeighborLife program. 

Our Community consists of eight supported Houses with a Support Family for each House. Each House also includes six individual Neighbor apartment homes. A total of forty-eight Neighbors live within the Community, four homes for women & four homes for men. 

We would love to help you determine if Amber Grace is right for your candidate! Below you will see a diagram of our Admissions Process along with a Neighbor Compatibility Profile and the Potential Neighbor Interest Form.

Neighbor Compatibility Profile

Please review the criteria below carefully as the ability to meet these requirements is non-negotiable.  

AgeOur Neighbors will range from 25-45 years of age upon admission.
Cognition

Amber Grace is designed to best serve individuals with a Mild Intellectual and Developmental Disability diagnosis (MID). The typical IQ range for these individuals is between 52-70. This is why we require a current (within the last 5 years) Psychological Evaluation as part of our application process. We also acknowledge an IQ test does not represent the full spectrum of a person's capabilities. If your applicant falls just outside this range of IQ, but you feel they meet all other compatibility profile benchmarks, please give reasons for asking for consideration when filling out your Potential Neighbor Interest Form.

Neighbors must be able to clearly communicate their needs and comply with Community rules and policies.

Our Neighbors must have an established legal guardian OR power of attorney established for health and financial other than themselves before admission.

Behavioral

The behavior of our Neighbors is of primary concern.

Our Neighbors are capable of being engaged and attentive in a classroom setting without constant redirection that would be disruptive to others. Meltdowns and outbursts are considered disruptive behaviors.

Our Neighbors must have no history of behavioral challenges nor have a history of harmful or aggressive behavior toward themselves or others.

SleepNormative sleep patterns are required, meaning individuals are capable of sleeping 8 hours through the night independently with no disruptions requiring support.
Relationships
  • While we encourage friendships and camaraderie among our Neighbors, we do not support romantic relationships.
  • Neighbors must be willing and able to participate in group activities and engagement with others.
SpiritualAmber Grace is a faith-based, Christ-centered Community; however, a statement of faith is not required for residency.  
Physical
  • Upon admission our Neighbors are required to be ambulatory, continent of bowel and bladder, and able to perform activities of daily living (ADLs).
  • Our Neighbors are able to safely function without direct supervision while inside our residential Community setting.
  • While Amber Grace is a Community for adults, we do not partake of or allow the use of alcohol, recreational drugs, or nicotine substances on premises.
  • At this time, we are unable to accommodate wheelchairs and other ambulatory aids nor provide skilled nursing care or continual medical supervision.
  • At this time, we are not equipped to support individuals with significant vision and hearing challenges.
  • Our Neighbors will have independence within the Community to spend time by themselves or with friends and will not always be in the direct presence of Staff members; therefore, it is important seizures be controlled by medication and occur at a frequency that will not require immediate medical attention or occur with a severity that will not endanger the Neighbor should they be alone or unaccompanied by a Staff member when the seizure occurs.  
Other
  • To encourage family time for Neighbors and Staff, Amber Grace closes for the week of Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Specific dates will be included on our yearly calendar. Our Neighbors will need to arrange to spend these holidays with their loved ones.
  • We are not designed to support Neighbors who drive themselves. Transportation support will be offered for all Neighbors.
  • Our Community is not designed to accommodate individual Neighbor’s pets.

The ability to meet the above criteria is a requirement of all candidates. Candidates who do not meet these criteria cannot be considered at this time. If you feel your candidate is a good fit for our Community, please continue to the Potential Neighbor Interest Form below.

As mentioned above, a Psychological Evaluation completed within the last 5 years is necessary for admission. We understand depending on where you live, this can take time. We encourage all our families to begin seeking to have this completed if you considering applying. Most residential communities require this evaluation in some format. We are actively compiling a list of psychological resources in Georgia to assist families. This evaluation is not necessary to fill out the Potential Neighbor Interest Form, but it will be required should you receive the application.

Please email admissions@ambergrace.com if you know of an organization we should consider adding to this list.  

Financial

Amber Grace is a privately and publicly funded 501(c)3 Community. According to our policy, we do not directly accept government financial aid. If possible, waivers and other forms of financial assistance may be self-directed to help offset the cost of living at Amber Grace. Using these avenues would be a direct relationship between the candidate’s responsible party and assistance entity.
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After your official application has been selected for consideration, during your onsite tour and interviews, we will conduct a financial assessment. The heart of Amber Grace is to serve individuals from a wide range of incomes and backgrounds. Once entered into the Wait Pool, applying for financial assistance, if appropriate, will be part of the admissions process.

Future

Amber Grace desires to meet the needs of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities which is why we will constantly be expanding our offerings. Our intention is for our Community to be a lifelong home for our Neighbors barring any significant complications. We plan to expand our care with the aging needs of our Community once the initial Community is established.

Take the First Step

We currently have 24 available apartment homes for women and 24 available apartment homes for men. If after reviewing the above Neighbor Compatibility Profile, you feel your candidate would be a good fit for our community, please complete the Potential Neighbor Interest Form by clicking the button below. NOTE: Completing this form does NOT guarantee acceptance to the Amber Grace Community wait pool. We are currently accepting and reviewing forms regularly. Once reviewed, we will notify you of next steps via email.