High-Quality Community Life Engagement Supports: Four Guideposts for Success (Engage: A Brief Look at Community Engagement, Issue No. 3, 2016)

Community Life Engagement refers to supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to access and participate in their communities outside of employment as part of a meaningful day. States and providers report growing numbers of individuals with IDD in Community Life Engagement, yet the role of services related to engagement and participation in community life has to date been largely undefined. Furthermore, the Department of Justice’s guidance around the provision of day and employment supports in integrated settings (U.S. Department of Justice, 2014; United States v. State of Rhode Island, 2014) has illustrated the need to define and provide high-quality Community Life Engagement supports. Placing additional pressure on states and providers, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services released new rules that defined, described, and aligned home and community-based setting requirements specifying maximum opportunities in the most integrated settings (Center for Medicaid and Medicaid Services, 2014)