Eleven rehabilitation/independent living counselors in 5 states and the Navajo Nation completed consumer data summary questionnaires on 121 American Indian clients receiving independent living services. The clients lived in Arizona, California, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas, Colorado, and Utah; 48 were served by the Navajo Nation vocational…

Interviews were conducted with 32 American Indians with disabilities in Cibola, McKinley, and San Juan counties, New Mexico. The study sought to identify the needs of northwest New Mexico American Indians with disabilities with regard to independently carrying out daily living activities. With an average age of 49, interviewees frequently reported…

This study sought to identify resources available and training/technical assistance needs of personnel employed by projects serving American Indians and Alaska Natives under the provisions of Section 130 of the Rehabilitation Act. Section 130 authorizes funding of vocational rehabilitation service grants to the governing bodies of Indian tribes on…

This document reports on two studies by the Bridges to Inclusion project concerning issues surrounding runaway and/or homeless youth with disabilities. The first study surveyed emergency adolescent shelter providers funded by the Family and Youth Service Bureau. Findings addressed types of disabilities frequently identified or suspected in…

Visits were made to selected respite care and crisis nursery programs in order to describe the programs and services they offered to families of young children with special needs and to learn more about the families who used the services and the staff who provided them. The visits to 10 crisis nurseries and 24 respite care programs resulted in…

This study surveyed how respite care services functioned for Swedish families who have children with disabilities and compared the results with a previous study made 6 years earlier. The study was based on a questionnaire completed by 245 of Sweden's municipalities. The study examined the quantity and quality of the services and respondents' views…

The purpose of this study was to follow up two previous studies on the vocational rehabilitation needs of American Indians with disabilities and the effectiveness of projects authorized by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title 1, Part D, Section 130 to meet those needs. A self-evaluative questionnaire was developed and mailed to the project…

This paper describes a needs assessment instrument that is intended to effectively communicate recommended practice ideas for serving children with disabilities to teachers, families, and service delivery personnel. The instrument is in the form of a quality indicators checklist and utilizes 143 statements of recommended practice. The inclusion of…

The structure of the revised Client Needs Assessment Instrument (CNAI) is examined. In 1978-79, the Texas Department of Human Resources (DHR) developed the CNAI to provide an index of applicants' and clients' capacity for self-care by measuring the respondents' levels of functioning in: (1) physical health; (2) daily living activities; (3) mental…

This booklet gathers and discusses best practices for supported employment in rehabilitative facilities. The first chapter reviews the need to identify best practices and examines such issues as jobs, integration, and quality of life. The second chapter describes eight programs chosen as exemplary, providing data on program goals, average wage and…

This report describes a project to promote independent-living outreach services that are culturally relevant for American Indians and Alaska Natives with severe or significant disabilities. A pilot training workshop conducted in Aztec, New Mexico, focused on the importance of service providers understanding American Indian culture and on…

The report describes second-year project activities of the Early Intervention Research Institute (EIRI) at Utah State University, relating to a 5-year project to conduct 16 longitudinal studies of the effects and costs of alternative types of early intervention with handicapped children. Six of the studies are to investigate effects of varying the…

A study examined the degree to which families with disabled children in remote areas of the Navajo Reservation were aware of and used family support services. Twenty-five undergraduate students enrolled in special education teacher training courses designed, implemented, and assisted in data analysis. Interviews and surveys were completed by 89…

This report describes results of an evaluation of respite care programs and crisis nursery programs for children with disabilities, based on survey forms received from 81 programs and site visits to selected programs across the United States. The survey of crisis nursery programs and the survey of respite care programs gathered data on amount of…

This study reviewed the literature on and conducted three national surveys concerning delivery of services to people with disabilities from minority backgrounds. The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 are reviewed, with a focus on initiatives to serve persons with disabilities from diverse backgrounds. A review of…