Creating Individual Supports for People With Developmental Disabilities: A Mandate for Change at Many Levels

by Valerie J. Bradley

The aspirations of people with developmental disabilities to individual empowerment and community membership have brought about a shift from residential services to community-based supports. This change, however, continues to meet resistance. To ensure inclusion for all individuals with disabilities, professionals working in the human services need practical strategies based on a community supports paradigm. Creating Individual Supports for People with Developmental Disabilities: A Mandate for Change at Many Levels describes the critical steps for implementing effective individualized supports strategies. Beginning with an overview of the supports paradigm, this book examines the need for fundamental changes in current service design. Detailed chapters offer insights into creating community supports at the regional, state, local, agency, and individual levels. Discover how services can be reframed based on expanded partnerships with people with disabilities and families, and the use of more individualized and participatory planning processes. In-depth case studies on successful transformations throughout the United States provide the state-of-the-art strategies and practical advice needed to respond effectively to this fundamental change in service delivery. Written by professionals who have worked extensively with persons with disabilities, this thoughtful resource will benefit service coordinators, program developers, policy-makers, social workers, advocates, and all others committed to interdependence and community participation in the lives of people with disabilities.

448 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1994