Measuring CIL Services that Improve Community Participation for People with Disabilities

Disability researchers continue to refine measures of participation. However, there has been less attention given to independent variables that increase community participation. Centers for Independent Living use four core services (i.e. advocacy, information and referral, peer support and skills training) to assist individuals with community living needs. These needs include community engagement. This paper will report on a measure of CIL service delivery that may identify services leading to community participation outcomes for people with disabilities. We used a concerns report technique by identifying CIL services conceptually linked to participation outcomes. Services were identified through a consumer advisory board, a review of CIL websites, federal 704 report items and the International Classification of Function (WHO, 2001). The instrument we developed includes 81 services and agency demographics. We collected pilot data with this instrument from 41 CIL staff representing three CILs (large urban, small urban, rural). Results indicated the 20 services rated as most important to community participation represented all four CIL core services. Importance ratings across all items were strongly correlated across centers (.50 to .67). A composite score based on staff satisfaction ratings across the 20 services rated as most important for increasing community participation revealed statistically significant differences between CILs. Results will be discussed for their relevance to CIL service delivery and future research directions.