Research and Training Center on Independent Living

The Research and Training Center on Community Living

The Research and Training Center on Independent Living (RTC/IL) at the University of Kansas received a five-year, $4.25 million grant from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research to help people with disabilities live in and participate more fully in their communities.

The new Research and Training Center on Community Living (RTC/CL) will develop evidence-based programs, policies and practices that further community living among people with disabilities.

The grant runs from Oct. 1, 2011 to Sept. 30, 2016.

Why It Matters

In June 2009 U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the “Year of Community Living” to mark the tenth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Olmstead v. L.C. decision. Olmstead gives Americans with disabilities the right to live in a community setting rather than in an institution.

Since then there has been increasing progress toward the goal of community living for people with disabilities through deinstitutionalization, anti-discrimination policies, community-based service providers and other systems of care. Yet people with disabilities still face many barriers to achieving enhanced participation and continuity in community living.

“We want to help people with disabilities fully participate in the community, reduce their risk for institutionalization in a nursing home, hospital or other health care setting and, whenever possible, successfully transition from an institution to a community setting,”said Glen W. White, director of the RTC/IL and of the new center.

The Research Projects

The new RTC/CL will develop evidence-based programs, policies and practices that further community living among people with disabilities.

The center will conduct six research projects to analyze how barriers to and experiences of community living may differ across socio-demographic and geographic groups. With this information as a foundation, five more projects will test strategies designed to improve community living opportunities for individuals with disabilities, focusing on housing, health, recreation and community and civic involvement.

 “These projects represent the state-of-art in terms of understanding the factors that put people with disabilities at risk for institutionalization.  The research and advisory teams we have assembled will blend research rigor with relevance to reduce barriers that threaten continuity in community living and support programs that enhance quality of life for Americans with disabilities," said Glen W. White, center director. 

Center Staff

Glen W. White is center director. KU researchers Amanda Reichard and Martha Hodgesmith will serve as the center’s research director and associate director, respectively.

Other disability scientists from the University of New Hampshire, Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Montana will collaborate on the project.

Our Advisors

A 10-person Scientific and Consumer Advisory Panel will consult with center staff throughout the life of the project to assure that projects have both rigor and relevance to the lives of people with disabilities.

Consumer Involvement

People with disabilities (known as "consumers") and service providers will identify their critical needs and work closely with center staff to develop research and products that address these needs. This process ensures that the center meets real, as opposed to perceived, needs in the field.

Funding

The Research and Training Center on Community Living is funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), U.S. Department of Education.