Group homes for adults with Down syndrome in Clearwater, Florida
Most families we speak to about Down syndrome are not in a crisis. They are thinking a few years ahead, and they want to know what a good home looks like before they need one. That is exactly the right time to call.
Three licensed homes in Clearwater. Every resident has a private bedroom.
What living here looks like
- Independence where it exists, help where it does not. Plenty of adults with Down syndrome do a great deal for themselves — the job of the house is to support the gaps, not to take over the parts somebody is proud of.
- A social life, because this is usually the part that shrinks when someone leaves the family home. Housemates, outings, birthdays that get made a fuss of.
- Appointments kept. Adults with Down syndrome often carry a longer list of routine health checks — thyroid, heart, hearing, vision, sleep. We coordinate with the person's own doctors and make sure the visits happen.
- Help with medications from staff trained and validated to give them under APD's rules.
- Staff who see the person every day, which is how a change gets noticed early rather than at the next annual review.
We take anyone APD finds eligible. Our homes are licensed at the standard level. We support adults whose plans call for standard residential habilitation — if a plan calls for behavior focus or intensive behavior services, that is a different kind of home than ours, and we will tell you so rather than take a placement we are not licensed for.
Adults only. Our homes are for adults — 18 or older. APD serves children as well, but a Skycrest Place home is an adult home.
Who pays for it?
For an adult APD has found eligible and enrolled on the iBudget Medicaid Waiver, the waiver pays the home for the support. Room and board is separate and comes from the person's own income — two different things with two different payers, which is the part nobody explains.
Does Medicaid pay for a group home in Florida?What Florida's rule says about Down syndrome
Down syndrome is named directly in Florida's statute, so it is one of the conditions that can establish eligibility on its own terms. Section 393.063, F.S. defines it simply as a disorder caused by the presence of an extra chromosome 21.
“Down syndrome means a condition caused by the presence of extra chromosomal material on chromosome 21. This disorder is often associated with impairment in cognitive ability, characteristic physical growth and features, and congenital medical conditions.”
APD determines eligibility — a home cannot, and we never try to. We explain what the published rules say and link the state sources they come from. This is not legal advice and it cannot tell you how an individual case will be decided; a Waiver Support Coordinator is the person who helps a family work through it.
Read from the adopted rule text on September 20, 2026. All eight conditions Florida recognizes.
Our three homes, all in Clearwater
Questions families ask us
Are there group homes for adults with Down syndrome in Florida?
Yes. Down syndrome is named in Section 393.063, F.S. as a condition that can establish eligibility for Florida's Agency for Persons with Disabilities, and adults found eligible and enrolled on the iBudget Medicaid Waiver can live in a licensed APD group home with residential habilitation funded through the waiver. Skycrest Place runs three such homes in Clearwater, Pinellas County.
When should a family start looking at group homes for an adult with Down syndrome?
Before it is urgent. Families who look while there is no deadline get to visit several homes unhurried, more than once, with their loved one — and that is what turns the decision into a choice rather than an emergency placement. There is no penalty for asking early and no obligation attached to a visit.
Will an adult with Down syndrome have their own bedroom in a group home?
In our homes, yes — every resident has a private bedroom and we do not share rooms. That is not universal, so it is worth asking any home you visit directly rather than assuming.
Does a group home handle medical appointments and medications?
A licensed APD group home coordinates with the person's own doctors and supports appointments, and staff who are trained and validated under APD's medication rules can help with medications. A group home is not a nursing home and does not replace medical care; it supports the person's own health team.
Other conditions APD serves
Come and see one
You will learn more in twenty minutes in a house than in a week of reading. Call 727.254.1196 or send a note and we will arrange a visit.