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Independent Living News & Policy from the National Council on Independent Living

Announcing NCIL’s Home Modifications Fact Sheet for CILs

Presented by NCIL and the KU RTC/PICL

NCIL is excited to announce the Home Mods Fact Sheet. This fact sheet is intended to support CILs looking to create or expand a home modification program. NCIL would like to thank the team at PICL (Promoting Interventions for Community Living) at the University of Kansas, as well as our featured CILs: PILR in Placer, CA; The Ability Center of Greater Toledo; and accessABILITY in Indianapolis for their support and guidance.

Home modifications or “home mods” are changes a person makes to make their home accessible to them. Home mods can be as simple as a small threshold ramp to get through a doorway or as major as a full renovation. Some of the most common home modifications are ramps, improvements to doorways and entrances, and bathroom modifications.

A lot of Centers for Independent Living (CILs) operate home modification programs to help people make their homes more accessible. In a 2021 NCIL / RTC/PICL survey on home mod programs, 70% of CILs reported operating a formal home mod program. Some CILs help recommend improvements, others help with minor home mods, and some CILs assist with everything from recommendations, planning, and construction.

This fact sheet will share resources for your CIL, along with promising practices and real world examples from several CILs with successful home modification programs: accessABILITY in Indianapolis, Indiana; The Ability Center of Greater Toledo in Ohio; and Placer Independent Living Resource Services (PIRS) in Auburn, California.