James Weaver, 43, has been living with Paul and Christina Edwards for four years, and he couldn’t be happier.

Games of catch in the yard of the family’s home at 134 Hilderbrand Road; football with 15-year-old Dakota Edwards; and Christina’s spaghetti dinners, of which Weaver says he can’t get enough. These are some of the things Weaver, who is disabled, loves.

Those are activities that he did not get to enjoy before he found the Edwards.

For Weaver, the move from a personal care home — a place for people who need assistance but not full nursing home care — to a more family like environment was the right change.

“They’re my friends,” Weaver said.

Referred to as Dom Care, the program Weaver uses is an alternative to assisted living and a different take on in-home care. Rather than having a care provider visit or move into the home of the consumer or resident, the Dom Care program has the resident move into the home of a care provider.

It’s an arrangement Leslie Boyle, a clinical supervisor at the Butler County Area Agency on Aging, calls ideal for many people dealing with disabilities that prevent them from living independently, but don’t require full, nursing home-level care.

“It’s people that are a little bit more independent but ... need some supervision,” Boyle said. “The important thing is to bring them in and treat them like family.”

The county’s program has shrunk in recent years, from five homes to two. Boyle and Ann Gayle, a care manager at the agency who does home evaluations and inspections and consumer welfare checks, say they continue to see a niche demand for the services and would like to see the program regain lost ground.

“I think a lot of them (consumers) could benefit from this, but maybe they don’t know about it,” Gayle said.

A part of making that happen is attracting more providers like the Edwards family of Donegal Township, who have been a part of the program for years.

The Edwards, who both grew up working and living in personal care home settings, say the choice to get involved was easy for them. The couple bought land on Hilderbrand Road in 2002, knowing they wanted to build a home — called Woodsview Domiciliary Care — where they could host residents in the program.

The home has three beds but only two residents right now — Weaver and 55-year-old Roger Hall. The Edwards say they’ve been hoping to fill the third spot for some time. They enjoy bringing Weaver and Hall into their daily lives and the life of their son, 15-year-old Dakota.

“I think you have to really want and have a relationship with the people you get,” said Christina Edwards.

For the Edwards, keeping residents active and involved is key. The family takes trips to outdoor places like Moraine State Park and to events like the Butler Farm Show, where Paul has competed in the demolition derby for the past 18 years to the delight of Weaver.

“These guys here, they’re just a great bunch of guys,” said Paul Edwards of his residents. “You just have to be really involved with your people to do this the right way.”

Edwards’ parents, Paul and Nancy, operated their own Dom Care home for years before opening Bendview Personal Care Home in Clearfield Township when Edwards was 13.

“It was interesting. You got to always do something with the clients,” Edwards said of growing up with his family hosting the program. “I’ve always known, since then, that I wanted to do that myself.”

Providers are screened by the agency to ensure they pass background checks and their home passes a safety check. The program does not allow providers and residents to be related, but does permit residents to move into the homes of friends and be enrolled.

To be eligible for the program, residents must be at least 18 and fall into a care spectrum that requires enough assistance that they cannot live on their own, but not so much that they would require nursing home-based care. Mobility is typically one of the major determining factors when it comes to evaluating whether Dom Care is appropriate for a resident, according to state officials.

Gayle said many consumers who qualify for the program require help sticking to a daily medication regimen.

Financially, residents must be eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and, in 2015, have an income of less than $733 per month.

State officials say the program helps provide residents with care services at significantly lower costs than nursing homes. The monthly rates residents pay providers are set by the Pennsylvania Department of Aging and revised annually.

For 2015 individual residents pay $978 per month, and couples pay $1,720 per month for the program.

Because the income requirements are less than the monthly cost of the Dom Care program, the state provides a supplement to make up for the financial shortfall and provide residents with a small allowance to buy personal items.

Providers are permitted to care for up to three residents at a time, but the majority care for one or sometimes married couples.

In addition to the in-home care residents receive, program participants also get case management services from the state, which monitors their well-being and the home’s safety.

Services like laundry, housekeeping, transportation assistance and recreational activities are all the responsibility of a resident’s provider.

The program does not cover the cost of medical care.

People interested in learning more about the program or getting involved can contact the Area Agency on Aging at 724-282-3008.