Using the Independent Monitoring for Quality Program to Examine Longitudinal Outcomes for People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

The purpose of this study is to lay a foundation for illustrating the importance of longitudinal data collection by sharing the results of the Independent Monitoring for Quality (IM4Q) program in Pennsylvania designed to collect data over time on the quality of services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In this article, we report on the history and characteristics of the IM4Q program, describe the key variables of interest, and highlight the trends in the key variables over 3 years of data collection (2013, 2016, and 2019). The descriptive results indicate mixed trends for the three areas of focus: comparable rates of people employed in community-based settings, less support-related choice, and better everyday choice-making outcomes.

Attitudes toward individuals with disabilities: results of a recent survey and implications of those results.

Attitudes toward individuals with disabilities are often negative and deleterious, resulting in decreased opportunity and chances at successful integration into the community for these individuals. The purpose of the current study was to investigate attitudes of a group of 129 individuals attending a state-wide conference aimed toward improving quality of life of persons with disabilities. Overall, participants' attitudes were positive toward persons with disabilities.