Based on a paper presented at a convention of the National Association for Retarded Children (Detroit, 1968). (RJ)

A study of nine family support services delivered by 133 public and private agencies in New York State revealed that problems of service identification and definition and variations in location, type, auspice, size, and structure of service agencies affected availability and accessibility of family support services statewide. (Author/CL)

The impact of a unique, federally funded legal advocacy system on service delivery within a New Mexico state residential care facility for the mentally retarded is examined. Judicial attempts to improve institutional service provision are discussed. Some implications for further use of similar advocacy programs are presented. (Author/CL)

The Council on Quality and Leadership in Supports for People with Disabilities conducted interviews with 447 people with disabilities to identify priority outcomes they expect from service and supports. An analysis resulted in 24 variables loading onto 7 major factors: identity, autonomy, affiliation, attainment, rights, health, and safeguards.…

The author introduces the succeeding four articles on finance and economics of developmental disabilities. He suggests that the articles point to the need to redefine current funding, eligibility, and service organization approaches. (CL)

Data demonstrate that the majority of persons in residential facilities for people with mental retardation participate in daytime programing. State institution residents were less likely to have daytime programs than residents of community-based living arrangements. Resident and facility characteristics relating to probability of participation and…

The address reviews the establishment of rights for mentally retarded persons, cautions about the need to safeguard those rights, discusses the central role of individual program plans, and cites the importance of a continuum of services for mentally retarded persons. (CL)

It is predicted that institutions for the retarded will be phased out and that the need for most types of group residences will decline due to the development of residential alternatives to institutions and nonresidential community services. (KW)

Seven challenges in quality assurance for services for people with mental retardation include defining quality, identifying the customer, making choices real, realizing that good intentions are not enough, not applying innovations too hastily or on too large a scale, assuring quality of leadership and staff, and rediscovering common sense. (DB)

A symposium on community programs for retarded persons includes a study of resident and facility characteristics associated with participation in day programs and leisure activities among nursing home residents, a survey of services provided developmentally disabled residents in community facilities, and an examination of values among volunteers…

A study investigated the circumstances and views of 16 individuals 8 years after participation in one agency's conversion from a sheltered workshop to an exclusively community employment service. Most participants associated the agency's changeover with long-term, personal benefits, including community employment opportunities, increased income,…