	Supplement for Developmental Disabilities Programs

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

SDD 1: Access to Services

The organization works with the individual and his or her team to ensure access to available community services, supports, and other forms of assistance.

Interpretation: Throughout this document the term "individual" is defined to include children, youth, and adults with developmental disabilities. In instances where the individual cannot make his or her own decisions, sign documents, or is otherwise limited in his/her ability to provide informed consent, the term, "individual" may be understood to also include an advocate or legal guardian, as in "...the individual, his/her advocate, or legal guardian..."

"Team" is defined to include the individual's family, friends and other natural supports, circle of support, support/service broker, service coordinator, or others chosen by the individual. It is essential that members of the person's team are, to the extent possible, chosen by, and are the preference of the individual.

SDD 1.01

The organization works with community partners and resources to minimize barriers that prevent individuals with developmental disabilites from accessing services.

Interpretation: Barriers can include, and are not limited to: transportation, location, language, service fees, physical and architectural barriers, societal attitudes, and communication.

SDD 1.02

The organization conducts targeted outreach, and provides information and education to the community to ensure that potential service recipients know how to access available services.

SDD 1.03

The organization designs and adapts its programs and services to accommodate the visual, auditory, linguistic, and motor abilities of individuals served.

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	PURPOSE: Children, youth, and adults who participate in developmental disabilities programs achieve full integration and inclusion in the mainstream, make choices, exert control over their lives, and fully participate in, and contribute to, their communities.

RELATED FILES


	PROGRAM A system of services offered by an organization. For example, an organization providing a mental health service may offer several mental health programs to different populations, e.g., a mental health program for adolescent teens. The word "program" can be used interchangeably with the word "service" or to describe specific programs.


	COMMUNITY A specific group of people living in the same locality and who may share a common culture, values, and norms. Communities can also be defined by race, religion, ethnicity, age, occupation, political status, tribal affiliation, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The term "community" encompasses worksites, schools, tribes, residential neighborhoods, business districts, recreational areas, and health and human service sites.


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	INFORMED CONSENT The explicit granting of permission by a consumer or his/her legal guardian to the service provider and organization to use a specific intervention or participate in research. The consent is predicated on full disclosure of the facts to enable the consumer to make a decision based on knowledge of the risks and alternatives.


	LEGAL GUARDIAN A person who has legal responsibility for the care and management of a person incapable of administering his/her own affairs. In the case of a minor child, the guardian is charged with the legal responsibility for the care and management of the child and of the minor child's estate.


	FAMILY Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialization, income support, long-term care, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life. The definition of "family" will rest with an individual's indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, fictive kin, or significant others. Organizations that believe family is the central constellation in a child's life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of "family."


	ARCHITECTURAL BARRIER A physical impediment to the use of a facility by persons with physical disabilities including stairs, inaccessible toilet facilities, or other factors that restrict use.


	OUTREACH Contact initiated by a provider to identify persons in need of services, to provide information to them about services and benefits, and to encourage the use of appropriate services.


	SERVICE RECIPIENT The individuals, groups, organizations, or communities that use, receive, or benefit from programs and services. Service recipients can include consumers, patients, family members, legal guardians, advocates, public/private organizations, employers, and purchasers. All are regarded as significant stakeholders served in a variety of agencies and practice settings.