Community Assisted & Supported Living (CASL)

Community Assisted & Supported Living (CASL) provides safe, affordable, permanent supportive housing for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and adults living with a mental health diagnosis. Based in Sarasota since 1998, CASL pairs every home with case management, so residents have the health care, benefits, life skills and recovery support they need to stay housed and build independent lives.

Housing ranges from Neighborhood Housing (private bedrooms in shared single-family homes, condos and duplexes) to apartment communities developed with Blue Sky Communities. Independence House in Seminole gives adults with IDD a private suite with a living room and kitchenette, shared common areas, an art building and a caregiver on site every day; residents can bring their own Medicaid waiver supports and choose to age in place. Renaissance Manor, the assisted living facility where CASL began, offers 24/7 care in central Sarasota under a limited mental health license.

CASL case managers meet residents at least weekly and help with benefits (they are SOAR trained for SSI and SSDI applications), medication routines, meal planning, money management and job readiness. With the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office, CASL runs SHIFTS, a 90-day housing program for homeless adults with serious mental illness, and Transitions, which provides supportive housing for people leaving jail. Each CASL location is also a food bank distribution point.

To ask about housing, call the Sarasota office. Staff walk applicants through the process, and anyone who qualifies when no unit is open is placed on the waitlist. CASL has offices in Sarasota, Fort Myers, North Port and Naples.