9Supported Community Life Disability Policy and the Renewal of Mediating Structures

The paper describes an emerging model for dramatically restruc-turing disability policy in America. This model for policy reform attempts to escape the excessive individualism and loss of community that many social critics find at the heart of our current "system " of disability services. First, we review the failures of the existing mélange of disability programs. The sociological construct of mediating structures is used to understand how these programmatic failures have tended to perpetuate the social isolation of people with disabilities and their families. Then we identify some com-mon features of progressive reform efforts now occurring within the field of developmental disabilities. We argue that, taken together, these features outline a new model for disability policy that can renew a sense of commu-nity and mutual support. Examples of programs consistent with the Sup-ported Community Life Model are presented from the specific area of family policy. The paper concludes with some cautionary comments about poten-tial misapplications of the Supported Community Life Model. Disability policy in America seems to be at a turning point. The signs of dramatic change arise from several directions. First, as part of the social service system in this country, specific disability policies and programs inevitably share part of the growing critique of American social policy in general. Increasingly during the Reagan years, the efficacy of conventional approaches to maintaining and improving the quality of life through public interventions (for example, through social regulation and so-cial services) has been vigorously challenged from both ends of the politica