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Centers for Independent Living

Centers for Independent Living are located around Minnesota to help you figure out what you need or want and ways to get there. This service is free to you.

To see a listing of the Centers for Independent Living located in Minnesota, or to find the Center for Independent Living that serves your area, please visit our "Minnesota CIL Listing" page, or use the link below:

Minnesota CIL Listing

What Is Independent Living?

What is independent living? Essentially, independent living is living just like everyone else - having opportunities to make decisions that affect your life, pursuing activities of your own choosing, and being limited only in the same ways that your non-disabled neighbors are limited.

Independent living is having the right and the opportunity make choices and decisions about your life. And, it is having the freedom to fail - and to learn from your failures, just as people without disabilities do. Independent living means having every opportunity to be as self-sufficient as possible.

Independent living. It isn't easy, and it can be risky. But millions of people with disabilities rate it higher than a life of dependency, narrow opportunities and unfulfilled expectations.

To learn more, please use the link below:

The Minnesota Association of Centers for Independent Living

YOU Are In Charge

You are in charge, but you are not alone. There are people to help you – your county, your chosen Fiscal Support Entity and your Flexible Case Manager if you choose to have one.

Your County Health and Human Services agency will do the following free of charge. If you are an enrolled member, your Health Plan or Tribal Nation will do the same:

  • Screen and determine if the consumer is eligible.
  • Provide the consumer with their budget amount and assessment summary.
  • Provide resources and information to develop the plan and manage their services.
  • Evaluate whether the consumer's health and safety needs are reasonably expected to be met.
  • Evaluate whether the goods and services meet the CDCS guidelines.
  • Authorize CDCS services.
  • Authorize environmental modifications or assistive technology.
  • Review the consumer's budget and spending at required intervals.
  • Provide technical assistance to the consumer.
  • Conduct minimum case manager contacts with the consumer.

Other Information and Resources

To learn more about CDCS, please use the link below:

Minnesota Department of Human Services Consumer Directed Community Supports

To learn How a Support Planner can help you, please use the link below:

Consumer Directed Community Supports (CDCS) Policy Manual

To find out more about Person-Centered practice, please use the link below:

Person-Centered practices

To have a support planner help with your CDCS plan, please contact the Access North office nearest you. To find the office nearest you, please visit our "Contact Us" page, or use the link below:

Contact Us

To access links to additional CDCS resources and information, please visit our "Miscellaneous Links" page, or use the link below:

Additional CDCS Links