Frequently Asked Questions

A sponsor is a caring person who opens up their home and provides support to an individual with developmental disabilities and the like. They also integrate them into the community through various events and appointments. They support them to utilize community resources and provide them with a family style living. You can become a sponsor by receiving full training to meet DBHDS guidelines. Our agency prepares you to become a licensed provider. A complete application process along with background checks and a proper home study/inspection needs to be done prior to licensing of your home. Please contact the office for more detailed information.

This is not ideal, however, if there are justifiable reasons that a family member is the best provider for the individual, the state will approve.

You must have at least a total of 3 months of funds to support your budget. This can be in the form of a 401k, or someone helping you in the form of a financial sponsor.

Anyone who loves to work with special needs individuals. You must also have a minimum of a high school diploma or 7 years of experience. Your home must have at least 1 unoccupied room to rent out for the individual you will be supporting.

Of course!!! You can become a back-up to a sponsor. You will need to undergo the same basic training as and submit most of the same paperwork of a sponsor. Back-ups are a gift and the heart and soul of the sponsor's success in taking care of their individuals. Being a sponsor is very involved and one can easily get burned out. Becoming a back-up eases some of the load of a sponsor to prevent burn out.

This all depends on you. Your experience, commitment to turning in required documentation, attendance to all necessary trainings, and preparation of your home, is the key to a shorter or longer process.

It depends on what city the apartment is in. Please refer to the city regarding this question. Newport News has recently updated their occupancy forms and policies to prohibit apartments as being used for this purpose.

There are various types of trainings that are required by the state. Every sponsor and back-up must have Person-Centered training. You must also be trained in CPR/First Aid, understanding HIPAA, Human Rights, and OSHA laws, emergency preparedness, understanding seclusions and restraints, Medication Management, TOVA, as well as the overall company orientation class that includes documentation management. Seems like a lot? Don't worry, we will help you every step of the way.

Yes! If you have recently trained in these areas, we will accept your training certificate from another agency/organization except for the TOVA training. This must be completed in-house.

No, provider residential services receives the benefit of being exempt from paying taxes to the IRS. However, individuals pay room and board, in which funds come from their SSI. This is the only taxable amount.

It is very important. Individuals, like anyone else, like to live in a safe neighborhood/environment. Our goal is to have nothing but the best for the individuals at Beyond Excellence, therefore we hold high expectations for their standard of living.

First, they have to be diagnosed with IDD (Intellectual Developmental Disability) before the age of 18 or DD (Developmental Disability) before the age of 22. Second, they have to be approved for Medicaid and currently have a CL (Community Living) Waiver. If they do not have one, you should contact you local CSB (Community Services Board).