Community Support Needs

Current research findings are summarized and best professional practices are described in relation to support needs assessment and planning with people with intellectual disability and related developmental disabilities (ID/DD) in community settings. The current interest in support needs assessment, planning, and arranging individualized supports with people with ID/DD is considered in light of changes in public policy, trends in service delivery systems, and new understandings of disability that have emerged during the past four decades. The logic underlying person-centered planning (PCP) processes is reviewed. Several leading PCP processes are described and research findings related to their efficacy are summarized. Support needs assessment scales that have been developed and published over the past 20 years are also described. Research findings reported in peer-reviewed, professional literature on the scales are synthesized. Special attention is paid to the psychometric properties and factor structure of support needs assessment scales. An approach to how planning teams can use information from support needs assessment scales to inform decision-making is discussed.