Partners II—Serving Older Persons With Developmental Disabilities: Obstacles and Inducements to Collaboration Among Agencies

Neither the aging nor the disabilities services system is prepared for the rapid growth in the numbers of persons who are older and who have a developmental disability. The Partners II Project in Virginia worked simultaneously to enhance service coordination and capacity building at the local level, while providing policy direction to address barriers to efficient service provision at the state level. A survey of the several state and local service provider organizations identified operational structures and procedures that impede or facilitate service delivery. Methods used to identify potential clients, to establish client needs, to appropriate human and material resources, and to evaluate achievement of service objectives were investigated. Policy recommendations to improve service coordination were based on the results of these surveys. Service practices do not yet routinely include proactive initiatives for adults who enter later life with lifelong disabilities. The study outlines a policy-making process that is based on quantified procedures, logically derived from direct observations, and tied to pragmatic need. Conservative estimates indicate that at least 4 out of every 1,000 older persons are individuals with developmental disabilities (Janicki, 1991). Be-cause these estimates are derived from studies of persons who are older and who have mental retardation, they do not include the broad array of functions legally considered to be developmental disabilities (DD). Others have sug-gested that as many as 1 in 100 older adults may have a lifelong disability (Ansello & Eustis, 1992). Adults with developmental disabilities are livin