Questions to ask any life skills provider before you sign
Choosing a provider is one of the bigger decisions a family makes in SDP, and most families make it with less information than they'd use to pick a dentist. That's not your fault — providers all describe themselves the same way. These seven questions get past the brochure. Ask them of us, too.
1. "Walk me through what a typical session looks like."
You're listening for specifics: where it happens, what the coach does, what the individual does. A good answer sounds like a story — a store, a kitchen, a bus stop, a goal, a moment where the coach stepped back. A vague answer ("we work on independent living skills") usually means the sessions are vague too.
2. "How do you decide when to step in and when to let them struggle?"
This is the question that separates teaching from supervising. A provider who teaches has thought hard about this and can answer immediately. One who hasn't will either say "we always help" (which means they do it for them) or get flustered. The best answers mention waiting, asking questions instead of giving answers, and letting safe mistakes happen.
3. "Who writes the goals, and how often do they change?"
Goals should come from the individual and the family, in their own words, and they should change as they're met. If goals are written by the provider from a template, or stay the same for a year, the plan isn't really person-centered — it's paperwork.
4. "Will my young person have the same coach every time?"
Consistency matters enormously for most of the people we serve. Ask how the provider staffs sessions, what happens when a coach is sick or leaves, and whether coaches are employees or contractors. There's no single right answer, but a provider should have thought about it and be honest about the trade-offs.
5. "How will I know it's working?"
You should get more than a monthly invoice. Ask what progress notes look like, how often you'll hear from the coach, and what happens at a check-in. A provider who can describe what progress looks like for a specific goal — "shopped independently with one self-corrected error" — is tracking something real.
6. "What happens when my young person has a hard day?"
Everyone has them. You want to know the provider's instinct: do they end the session, push through, adapt the plan, call you? The answer tells you a lot about how they see the person — as someone to manage, or someone to work with.
7. "Is this ABA?"
Some families want ABA; some specifically don't. Either way, you deserve a clear answer. Many life skills and community integration providers, including us, are not ABA and don't run behavior programs. Ask directly, and ask what the provider's approach is instead.
A few things to notice that aren't questions
•Did they ask about your young person before talking about themselves? A good provider wants to know who they'd be working with.
•Did they say "no" or "I don't know" to anything? A provider who's a fit for everyone usually isn't a great fit for anyone.
•Did they offer to coordinate with your Independent Facilitator and FMS, or did they expect you to figure out the funding side alone?
•How did they talk about the people they serve? Listen for respect, specificity, and the assumption that the person is capable.
Why we're publishing this
Because we'd rather families choose well — even if that means choosing someone else — than choose us for the wrong reasons. If you ask us these questions and the answers don't fit what your young person needs, we'll say so.
Want to ask us these questions? Schedule a free consultation — bring the whole list.