A retrospective examination of 56 young children with severe handicaps in community residential facilities revealed that risk status, facility, and reason were significantly related to early community placement, and children with greater caretaking/medical involvement did not appear to be placed in the community earlier than other severely…

This paper reports on a portion of a study on community support and respite for families of children with disabilities in New South Wales (Australia). This part of the study focused on identification of factors influencing families when making decisions about caring for their young child at home or seeking an out-of-home placement. The study used…

This paper examines factors associated with meaningful family involvement in program planning for community residential services for individuals with mental retardation. It is argued that personnel in placement settings are often ambivalent about more family involvement. Guidelines for involving families at every stage both before and after…

This paper reviews 27 studies of parental attitudes on the deinstitutionalization of a family member with disabilities. Studies of existing institutional placements found high levels of satisfaction and opposition to deinstitutionalization, whereas studies of community placements found high levels of satisfaction with community placements and…

This report presents patterns and trends in services provided to persons with developmental disabilities through the Washington State Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) and related agencies from 1989 through 1994. Following an executive summary, individual chapters provide extensive detail on: (1) the Division and this project; (2) types…

This commentary on Erb's (1995) article on institutionalization of individuals with severe impairments identifies several points of disagreement, including the appropriateness of placement of such individuals in large institutions, the financial cost of community supportive living, and whether individual needs can best be served in institutions or…

This commentary on Erb's (1995) article on institutionalization argues that living in one's home community is better than being forced to leave it to obtain needed services. The commentary also criticizes the assertion that supported living programs funded through Medicaid waiver are not cost-effective compared to traditional institutional or…

Robert Erb responds to commentaries to his paper on institutional placement for individuals with severe disabilities and the costs of community and institutional placements. Risk-and-benefit issues, in addition to cost-and-benefit ones, are addressed. (SW)

Reported are results of a survey (1972) to determine trends in residential services for the mentally retarded, with particular focus on residential facilities, community involvement, and placement procedures. Respondents (62% of 211 questionnaires sent) represent public residential care facilities in the United States and Canada, or are state…

National and state data are presented on places of residence of recipients of Medicaid Home and Community Based (Waiver) Services, a program supporting long-term care for persons with developmental disabilities. The following types of residences are covered: agency home, foster home, own home, and family home. (SW)

This study of risk characteristics of 100 Illinois children/adolescents with emotional/behavior disorders admitted to programs to prevent the need for residential placements found that most of the children were in single parent families; almost 85% had average or above average intelligence; and almost half were exposed to divorce, poverty,…

The brief paper summarizes the final report of a federally funded project titled, "Ramps Are Not Enough: The Movement of Children with Mental Retardation from Institutional to Community-Based Care." The follow-up study of former residents (N=178) of New Hampshire's Laconia State School included an examination of residential and…

The article briefly reviews the history of deinstitutionalization and supports the development and use of a comprehensive evaluation process to evaluate the human and environmental factors that affect the potential for successful placement of handicapped persons in community-based residential facilities. (JW)

This study evaluated the Consent Screening Interview, which assesses the ability of adults with developmental disabilities to give direct consent for community residential placement. Interviews conducted with 17 adults with mental retardation and a control group of 8 individuals indicated that the instrument differentiated between those subjects…

The site visit report describes community living programs for persons with severe disabilities in the Wisconsin counties of Dane, LaCrosse, and Columbia. The visit attempted to identify and document promising practices through interviews with administrators, officials and staff; observations of three foster homes, two small group homes, and two…