There is no one unified definition of what group homes are. As the article on the previous page mentions, they can vary in terms of the services they provide, but a commonality among group homes is that the residents are afforded a social setting to live in. In Pennsylvania, group homes match what the PA Department of Human Services (DHS) calls Personal Care Homes (PCHs). We encourage you to visit the PCH page, which explains them and what they entail. The site also provides useful information for advocacy when choosing PCHs, and links you to their Personal Care Home Directory. To use the directory, search in the service code box for whichever service you are looking to find and input your county. If you have more questions, check out the Personal Care Home FAQs page from the PA DHS website. This directory is good for referral, but it is not comprehensive. For additional resources on group homes, visit our page on County MH/IDD Offices, which includes more information on the services provided by these offices, and look into our Community Directory.
