developmental disabilities

Where’s the Jello?

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The Saga of One Home’s Experience with the ICF/MR (Small) Program This is a re-print with some updating of an article originally written in the summer of 1985 by John R. Shea, Ph.D., a few days after a licensing and certification visit from California Health Services Licensing. At the time, John was executive director of … Read more

A Guide for Developing Strategic Objectives to Expand Self-Direction

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June 2023By Valerie J. Bradley Self-direction gives people with disabilities and older adults the ability to manage the long-term services and supports that they need to live lives of their choosing. Over the past more than 25 years, the option to self-direct has become an increasing component of human services systems. The virtue of self- … Read more

Foundational Writings

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Michael Smull, Susan Burke Harrison, John and Connie Lyle O’Brien , Beth Mount, Marsha and Jack Pearpoint and others have written about person-centered thinking, planning, and services and supports for some time. We consider their work from the 1980s to today to be foundational and want to make sure that they’re not lost. We have … Read more

An Opportunity to Provide Feedback on California’s Quality Incentive Program 

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Now Accepting Public Comments: Quality Incentive Program DDS is posting proposed quality measures and incentives for service providers for public comment. These measures were developed over several months with input from stakeholders through workgroup meetings. The measures align with implementation of the Quality Incentive Program, which is designed to support and incentivize a person-centered, statewide service system that provides high-quality, … Read more

Listen to Me! (fillable pdf version)

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Listen to Me! was developed at a time when Essential Lifestyle Planning (ELP) was one of the gold standards of person-centered planning. While it still sets a high standard, since that time, many other methods of planning with individuals for the lives they want to lead have been developed. Please make sure that you understand … Read more

Measure for Measure: person-centered quality assurance

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In the summer of 2000, representatives of nine national developmental disabilities organizations joined together to launch theDevelopmental Disabilities Quality Coalition (DDQC). The purpose of the DDQC is to prospectively address the public issues surrounding the quality and availability of community services for persons with developmental disabilities. The Wingspread Conference was organized around a series of … Read more

Expressions of Wellness I: Pathways to Healthy Living

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A Guide for Adults with Developmental Disabilities (2000) The California Department of Development Services (DDS) has funded a series of activities to promote Wellness which will help ensure access to quality medical, dental, and mental health services with an emphasis on positive health outcomes. Taking a leadership role in this statewide effort, DDS has conducted research, … Read more

Supporting People with Severe Reputations in the Community

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by Michael W. Smull and Susan Burke Harrison This handbook presents the tools needed to develop better community capacity to support people with severe reputations. For conceptual convenience, it is divided into four components: How people receive their reputations; How to plan with the individual for community services; How to recruit and develop the supports needed to … Read more