The Next Report

Yesterday, we were back into the reports at work.  We’d finished the 31 page Performance Analysis report and needed to get back into the overall project of Business Improvement reports.  So we took to concentrating on one of the subset reports from that task. 
 
The report that was started is called, “Accessibility Plans and Research Findings.”  We find the reports terribly interesting.  I had done a lot of work on accessibility research earlier in the year.  In general, accessibility includes the needs of persons served, personnel, and other stakeholders related to the center.  We need to show that all of these people have an input on the outcome of how we as a center operate.
 
Accessibility plans also identify the barriers of service.  We need to discuss architectural, environmental, attitudes, financial, employment, communication, and transportation.  The final part of the report is showing that the center helped to integrate the persons served back into the community and in so doing fulfilled any requests for reasonable accommodation. 
 
We had to organize our material first, and then the actual report was started.  We focused in on the needs of the persons served.   I organized this section by accounting for interviews and observations, reports, meetings, and research accomplished. 
 
It was pretty easy and straightforward until we got to the research part.  I need to summarize efficiently a consumer outcome report that was completed in March by the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services and Human Services Research Institute.  The report is called National Core Indicators (NCI).
 
Basically, what these people did was to survey individuals from 22 states.  In Illinois 439 people were interviewed.  They were asked questions that indicated community inclusion, personal supports and choices, relationships, satisfaction, services, safety and health, privacy, and respect.
 
We think everyone should know that the “business” of helping people with mental retardation is important in relationship to how people in general care for others. Sr. Tess asked us to give then a small presentation next week to the Advisory Board on the development of our program.  All of this goes somewhere.