Abstract. BACKGROUND:There has been a great migration of students with intellectual disability (ID) into the college world. The Higher Education Opportunities Act of 2008 (HEOA) has opened the door to postsecondary education to a previously untapped market of students. As a result, programs for students with intellectual disability have been developed around the country to support this historic systems change (Lee, 2009). Along with improved job prospects as one important measure of success, college participation also brings opportunity for personal and social development. OBJECTIVE: With seven years passing since the HEOA, it is prudent to assess outcomes for those students who are choosing to continue their education beyond high school. The National Core Indicators provide a unique opportunity to assess impact of higher education across life domains, historically used to determine developmental disability service system quality of life outcomes. Here, we discuss higher education and outcomes around employment, health, relationships and medications. METHODS: Students who had completed at least two semesters of college in Kentucky were surveyed about life outcomes using the National Core Indicators (NCI) Adult Consumer Survey (ACS). RESULTS: Findings on health, medications, employment, and relationships are reported. CONCLUSION: Participation in higher education can positively impact life outcomes across a variety of domains. This research represents a first step in utilizing a nationally recognized instrument that takes a holistic view of outcomes for adults with IDD to assess impact of participation in higher education. While the results are promising, further studies using larger samples are needed.

Supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to thrive requires careful consideration of multiple avenues of community involvement. Yet little attention has focused on the place of faith community participation in the lives of adults with IDD. We examined attendance at religious services using National Core Indicator data for a sample of 12,706 adults with IDD residing in 24 states. Almost half of adults (48.3%) reported attending a religious service in the past month, and more than one third (34.6%) attended 3 or more times. Religious involvement varied considerably based on a variety of individual (e.g., race, disability type, behavioral support needs, communication mode) and contextual factors (e.g., geographic locale, residential type). Moreover, monthly involvement in religious activities was much less common than participation in other community activities (i.e., exercise, entertainment, eating out, shopping). We offer recommendations for supporting the spiritual lives of adults with IDD, as well as highlight areas for future research and practice.

Higher education is increasingly becoming an option for young adults with intellectual disability (ID). Although initial evaluations of postsecondary education for this population have been promising, a broader "quality of life" framework needs to be adopted in order to truly understand the impact of these programs. Moreover, researchers and program evaluators must collect longitudinal data that follows former students for multiple years and uses multiple measures. We conducted a pilot evaluation of the life outcomes of students who had attended at least two semesters in Kentucky's supported higher education program for students with ID, collecting data on life status and experiences using measures from the National Core Indicators-Adult Consumer Survey. The findings from this pilot study show better outcomes for young adults who participated in a postsecondary education program compared to young adults who did not, but these findings need to be considered in light of several limitations. In many respects, our data provided more new questions than answers. Recommendations for collecting and evaluating broad-based, longitudinal data to gain insight into the potential benefits of postsecondary education for people with intellectual disability are discussed.

In this article we present the results of a needs assessment evaluating the employment-based needs of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), from the perspectives of self-advocates, their families and care givers, and IDD service providers in a primarily rural state. Participants were recruited through statewide distribution of a questionnaire about key issues and barriers to employment. A total of 467 adults participated. Employment was identified as a top concern across the groups. An inductive thematic analysis approach was used to analyze the qualitative comments provided by respondents about their employment needs. The results were generally consistent with prior research among Americans with IDD, in that employer expectations, transportation barriers, disability benefits, limited opportunities to develop employment skills, and broader economic factors influencing the community were identified as key issues. However, the results demonstrate the magnified impact of these barriers in rural areas, particularly rural areas facing economic challenges. The results of this needs assessment are discussed in terms of the broad national implications, and in terms of the local process of engaging multiple stakeholder groups to identify potential solutions.

Fostering agencies face increasing challenges recruiting and retaining foster carers while the number of children requiring foster placements continues to rise annually. This Northern Ireland study used qualitative methods with 11 foster carers to understand: if they had any expectation of support from family and friends in the role; and where this was available, whether it promoted their resilience in continuing as foster carers. Most foster carers in the study reported experiencing positive input from family, with a few exceptions. Carers’ adult children were considered particularly helpful, with some becoming advocates for fostering. While a number of the carers experienced good support from friends, a clear understanding of the fostering role at critical times, including during the carers’ life stages, was key to the experience of support from both family or friends. All participating foster carers were female. Implications for practice include examining opportunities for developing and facilitating the support potential of adult children, extended family and friends. These could include focused information and tailored training, together with creative user-led approaches for organisations to harness this under-utilised yet fundamental support.