The Residential Services team provides housing and other support services for persons with disabilities in group homes, adult licensed foster care homes or in their own apartments. Its mission is to provide quality, person-centered living arrangements, and support services for adults and children who have disabilities residing in northern and mid-Michigan areas. Listening Ear is licensed as a provider of residential services by the Michigan Department of Human Services, Office of Children and Adult Licensing.  Five professionals serve as the Directors of Residential Services for the Isabella, Clare, Ionia, Antrim and Kalkaska Counties.  The agency’s Rental Manager coordinates rental housing with over 70 units for individuals and families with low and moderate incomes in Isabella County. A new Homeownership Program offers Housing Counseling and Education to homeowners and new home buyers in Isabella, Clare, Midland, Gratiot, Montcalm and Mecosta Counties. Its purpose is to promote homeownership and housing stability, limit delinquencies and foreclosures, and, strengthen the communities served.

Child & Family Services provides prevention, emergency and treatment services to children and adults.  This team provides 24-hour Crisis Intervention, Information and Referral services to Isabella and Clare counties and after-hours mental health on call service to seven counties in mid-Michigan. The team is also responsible for the Runaway and Homeless Youth program that addresses the immediate needs — prevention, intervention, emergency shelter and after-care — of at-risk youth ages 12-17 and their families in Clare and Isabella counties and surrounding areas, who are or who are at risk of, homelessness or running away.  The Child Foster Care Program provides crisis, temporary, and extended specialized foster care to children in seven counties.  The Child Sexual Abuse Treatment Program offers crisis and support services to child victims of sexual abuse and/or incest in Isabella and Clare Counties and surrounding areas. The Transitional Living Program supports young people ages 16-21 that are facing homelessness in Isabella and Clare Counties and surrounding areas to learn self-sufficiency skills.

The third team, Business Support, assures overall quality agency management and financial excellence by maintaining and updating the agency’s policy and procedure manual, managing human resources (personnel hiring/separation, personnel reports, and maintenance of records), and quality management and assurance, including consumer satisfactions surveys, case management, community surveys, internal and external audits, and the management information system that measures outcomes. The team manages financial services, payroll, billing, vendor payments, reports, income and expense statements. Fiscal control and accounting procedures are in place to insure prudent control procedures are in place for payment reconciliation, payroll, and all vouchers and receipts. An annual audit is completed and the agency carries broad liability insurance which includes professional, board and facility liability insurance. Striving to maintain excellence in services, Listening Ear achieved accreditation status with Council on Accreditation in 1998 which continues today. The agency is also a proud United Way agency in Isabella and Clare Counties.