Alpha Supported Living Services

VISION

A community that is inclusive of people with developmental disabilities and those who support them.

MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of Alpha Supported Living Services is to serve individuals with developmental disabilities by providing residential and community services that maximize each person’s quality of life.

This mission will be accomplished by:

• Treating each client with dignity, respect and full consideration of individuality and civil and human rights;
• Recognizing our staff members’ abilities and enhancing their growth and professional skills;
• Working cooperatively with other individuals and organizations that share our goals; and
• Developing broad-based sources of support to maintain financial stability.

HISTORY

Alpha Supported Living Services is a non-profit agency providing supported living and group home services to adults with developmental disabilities living in homes in King and Snohomish counties. The agency has its roots in group homes operated by four separate agencies. Alpha Home, located on the west slope of Queen Anne Hill, was founded in 1974 and began serving program participants in a group home setting in 1975. The group home was established by parents of individuals with developmental disabilities who identified a need for additional residential services in the community. Spring Meadow Specialized Homes had a similar history in that it was established in 1984 by a group of family members of individuals with developmental disabilities who desired community residential services. The two agencies had a history of working together and in April 1998, Alpha Home entered into a trial management contract with Spring Meadow Specialized Homes. In September 1998, the contract was expanded and Alpha Spring Meadow Homes was formed.

Seattle Specialized Group Home was founded in 1981 by a group of parents whose sons and daughters lived in large institutions because of their developmental disabilities. Previously, these individuals were denied residential services in community settings because of the lack of programs able to adequately support their unique challenges. This corporation operated as Seattle Specialized Residential Support (SSRS) and provided group home service until 1997 when the last group home was converted to supported living services. SSRS provided group home and supported living services for 25 years until approaching Alpha Spring Meadow Homes to merge. In January 2007, SSRS merged with and into Alpha Spring Meadow Homes and Alpha Supported Living Services was formed.

In that same year, Residence East approached Alpha Supported Living Services to provide management consultation services while the agency was without an Executive Director and other key personnel. The agency had a similar history with the first group home, Bellevue Group Home, opening in 1978. At the end of 2007, the Board of Directors of Residence East approached Alpha Supported Living Services with the desire to merge with and into Alpha Supported Living Services. This merger went into effect on January 1, 2008 with Alpha Supported Living Services being the surviving corporation in the merger. At that time, the agency was providing services to just over 80 individuals with developmental disabilities living in homes in Seattle, Shoreline, Bellevue, and Issaquah. The agency continued to expand geographically by opening new homes in Kirkland, Redmond, Bothell, and Woodinville. In addition, the agency continued to grow as referrals were received for individuals moving into community services. By 2013, the agency was providing community residential support to over 100 individuals.

Due to significant growth in the East Branch, the agency approved the plan to divide the branch into the North Branch and South Branch. Numerous referrals were received and the plan was laid out to grow the two branches back to capacity over time. However, in mid-2015 a non-profit provider in Snohomish County, Smithwright Services, approached Alpha Supported Living Services to provide management consultation services to help the agency address certification issues and stabilize services. In September 2015, DDA terminated the supported living and group home contract with Smithwright and awarded the contract for 27 of the clients formerly served by Smithwright to Alpha. A separate contract was signed for the services in Snohomish County and quickly brought the North Branch to approximately 50 clients across Snohomish County (Lynnwood, Edmonds and Everett) and Northeast King County (Woodinville, Bothell and Kirkland). By 2017, Alpha was serving over 150 clients in over 50 supported living homes and three group homes.

Individuals supported by the agency encompass a wide spectrum of individuals with developmental disabilities. Some individuals are fairly independent, maintain jobs in the community and require general assistance, while others have physical disabilities that require significant assistance with personal care. Some individuals require additional supports with health and medical issues and as a result, the agency has Registered Nurses who work to support these individuals, as well as additional oversight across the agency as specific issues and questions arise.

Even with the expansion of the agency and recent referral of young adults with the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder, the agency continues to have a well-deserved reputation for serving individuals for many years, if not all of their adult life. In fact, the agency continues to provide support to several individuals who were founding members of the four original group homes previously mentioned. As such, many individuals have been served for over 20-30 years. This commitment to continuity and quality of care is a hallmark of the agency.

In addition to the supported living and group home services provided by the non-profit corporation, Alpha Bookkeeping Services operated as a for-profit corporation and offered bookkeeping, payroll and cost report services for other residential providers beginning in 1993. In 2007, the for-profit corporation ceased operations and the service was combined into the non-profit corporation, Alpha Supported Living Services. Beginning in 2010, the agency began to provide representative payee services for individuals not served by the agency in a residential capacity. In 2013, the agency signed a contract with King County to begin providing Community Access services for individuals either retiring from or opting out of vocational services. Lastly, in 2015 the agency formed Inclusion Housing, LLC to provide affordable and stable housing options for people with developmental disabilities. Across all programs operated by Alpha Supported Living Services, the agency was serving over 280 individuals by 2018.