Report from the Working Group on Improving Public Policies and Programs Affecting Persons with Mental Retardation and Other Developmental Disabilities

This report analyzes the impact of current federal policies and programs on the growth of community living arrangements and supportive services for people with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities (MR/DD). It draws the following conclusions: (1) the principal federal financing mechanism for MR/DD services, the ICF/MR program, is institution-based and has not kept pace with the significant changes in the field of developmental disabilities particularly the movement toward community-based services; (2) the lack of federal participation in the financing of community services is widely perceived as a barrier to independence, productivity, and community integration of developmentally disabled people; and (3) the Medicaid program, with its open-ended financing and medical and welfare orientation, is not a promising vehicle for cost-effective federal policy reform. [89 PDF pages]