Spectrum Arch, Inc.
Support Brokerage · OPWDD Self-Direction

Support Broker services in New York's Capital Region

Self-Direction puts people with developmental disabilities and their families in charge of their own supports. A Support Broker is your guide through it: planning, budgeting, hiring, and keeping everything running smoothly.

Join our interest list Read the Self-Direction guide

What is a Support Broker?

In New York, people who are eligible for OPWDD services can choose Self-Direction. Instead of fitting into an agency's schedule, you decide which supports you need, who provides them, and when.

A Support Broker helps you make that happen. Your broker works for you: helping you understand your options, turn your goals into a self-direction plan and budget, and put the people and services in place to carry it out.

People who self-direct with Budget Authority work with a Support Broker to develop and manage their Self-Direction Budget. Support Brokers complete OPWDD training and must be authorized by OPWDD. Your Care Manager can tell you what applies to your situation.

Now building our Support Brokerage team

Spectrum Arch is preparing to offer Support Brokerage in Saratoga County and across the Capital Region. We are not accepting new Self-Direction clients yet, but families and Care Managers are welcome to contact us to join our interest list. We will reach out as soon as we can start.

How a Support Broker helps

Learning your options

We explain how Self-Direction works in plain language, including employer authority and budget authority, so you can choose what fits your family.

Building your Circle of Support

We help you bring together the people who know and care about you, and plan around your goals and routines.

Creating your budget

We help turn your Life Plan goals into a self-direction budget, called your Personal Resource Account, and prepare it for approval.

Hiring and managing staff

We help you recruit, interview, and hire staff, and set up payroll and paperwork with your Fiscal Intermediary.

Finding services and supports

Community classes, respite, transportation, and other supports that match the plan you built.

Staying on track

Budget changes, staff turnover, annual renewals, and new goals: we help you adjust as life changes.

Who Self-Direction is for

  • People found eligible for OPWDD services and enrolled in the OPWDD Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Waiver
  • Adults who want more control over their day, their staff, and their goals
  • Young adults leaving school services at 21 who want a flexible, community-based plan
  • Families who already know someone they trust to provide support and want to hire them directly

Why Spectrum Arch

  • Local. Based in Clifton Park and focused on Saratoga County and the Capital Region.
  • Autism-focused. Our work centers on adults with autism and developmental disabilities.
  • Looking ahead. We plan to seek OPWDD approval as a Fiscal Intermediary, so self-directing families can work with one local partner.
  • Person-centered. Your goals drive the plan, not an agency's schedule.
  • Straightforward. Clear explanations, prompt replies, and no jargon.

Learn more

Support Brokerage

What a Support Broker does and how we help.

Self-Direction guide

Every step, from OPWDD eligibility to hiring staff.

Questions and answers

Cost, timing, choosing a broker, and more.

Serving families across Albany, Saratoga, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Warren, Washington, Columbia, and Greene counties.