Granite Bay Care (CARE)
was founded upon the belief that an individual’s quality of
life can be measured in no small part by his or hers experience of relationships. Securing
and maintaining paid employment, participating in activities of daily living, and
enjoying local opportunities for recreation, all individuals are encouraged to become
active members of the communities within which they reside. While careful not to
promise permanence, CARE has developed innovative models specifically designed
to cultivate meaningful connections between supported individuals and caregivers
often not possible in more traditional support models.
GBC’s focus on relationships and the unique challenges that each supported person
faces has resulted in the development of a variety of innovative service models, allowing
individuals to enter into and move through CARE along a continuum of care.
For individuals accustomed to a chaotic and hostile world, this can prove to be a formidable
task. However, with patient understanding and consistent application of support
strategies, the “CARE wrap-around” team (consisting of operational, nursing, and
clinical consultants working interdepartmentally with person-centered teams) has a
demonstrated track record of success in creating a climate of mutual acceptance and
appreciation between individuals and CARE-givers. In the majority of cases, the quality
of this bond has had a profound therapeutic impact on consumers, providing a
means to achieve first emotional/behavioral stability/regulation, then normality/
routine, and finally community investment/integration.
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Rather than forcing individuals to change, GBC encourages a culture of mutual understanding and respect. Offering active assistance in the long-term maintenance of life challenges, GBC diverts energies once expended on counterproductive maladaptive responses to anxiety, guilt, and frustration; freeing the individual to address more productive goals associated with “active treatment”. It should be noted that CARE has never discharged an individual, for any reason. CARE will continue its tradition of seeking outside consultative resources to meet any and all challenges arising from this moral and ethical decision as it builds an internal capacity to responsibly and effectively manage its commitment to CARE. Within this Continuum of CARE, Granite Bay Care employs an array of program models tailored to each individual's needs and strengths. 
The Live-in Provider CARE is the most intensive level of support offered within GBC’s Continuum of CARE. This “hybrid” model of care is unique to GBC in the State of Maine and has been proven to be particularly effective in supporting the needs of individuals who exhibit high risk, challenging behaviors. The core element of this approach focuses CARE through a singular lens, the Adult Foster Care (AFC) “Provider” or professional roommate. This dedicated individual agrees to commit themselves to providing a unified therapeutic approach, in a home atmosphere free from the institutional trappings normally associated with group home models. This model has demonstrated considerable success in engaging those individuals who have historically co-opted traditional programming. 
Granite Bay Care offers in-Home CARE support to adults with developmental disabilities who are living with family or on their own, in communities where they have established a sense of permanency. Our services extend CARE into existing environments and contexts offering assistance within a reassuring framework. With an emphasis on autonomy and self-determination, person-centered CARE is flexible, intended to work with and around the changing demands and schedules of the supported person and their personal circumstances. 
Granite Bay Care offers a residential or shift-staffed 24/7 model of CARE providing professional, trained staff and individualized supports within community-based homes. These small two-person (unlicensed) or three to four person (licensed) homes can be designed to meet a wide range of person-centered needs from teaching independent living skills to providing medically intensive levels of CARE. While the shift staff model is not unique to the Agency, Granite Bay Care employs an Across-Shift design. This CARE Across-Shift ensures continuity in communication and service delivery between staff teams avoiding the “ships passing in the night” phenomena that invariably work against teamwork and team-consistency. 
On occasion, persons can find themselves displaced from their home, or temporarily in need of additional supports to insure their safety and the safety of those around them. Without judging the circumstances leading to this critical predicament, Granite Bay Care offers short-term CARE for persons in crisis with nowhere else to turn. During this period of emergency respite CARE, the Agency offers the capacity to perform intensive functional, behavioral, psychological and nursing assessments to assist those teams requiring suitable after-CARE alternatives. 
Persons with Cognitive and Physical Disabilities frequently find themselves marginalized, underestimated with regard to either, or both, their personal strengths or struggles. For persons experiencing a world of misunderstanding, a psychological “evaluation” can be a useful tool helpful in helping teams better appreciate this person’s unique experience of the world and the kind of CARE most likely to foster success. It can also serve a number of other significant functions. 
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2010 Granite Bay Care, Inc.