Community Living for Adults with Developmental Disabilities: A Housing and Support Approach

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Abstract
This article reports on a multisite qualitative research study designed to better understand how the selected organizations support adults with developmental disabilities in community life. In particular, the study investigated the five characteristics potentially critical for service reconfiguration from a facility-based residential services model (e.g., group home, supervised apartments) to a housing and support approach (i.e., supporting adults to live in their own homes). Semistructured interviews and observations were conducted with informants at a purposeful sample of five agency sites in New Hampshire, Minnesota, California, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. The results indicated the following target areas for further research and applied change strategies: the distinctions between the theoretical and practical frameworks of community integration and independent living, personal changes in the relationship of individuals with each other in daily life, structural changes on the part of agencies and service systems, and “community” changes in acceptance, stigma, and power relationships. The author discusses the implications of these findings for further service development and research in community living for people with developmental disabilities in the United States.

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