State Data B

 1

Supporting Families Community of Practice Evaluation

Kansas State Data Brief

Evaluation Overview

In 2012, the Administration for Community Living (ACL), through the Administration on 

Disabilities (AoD)1, awarded the five-year National Supporting Families Community of Practice 

(CoP) grant to the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services 

(NASDDDS), which partnered with the University of Missouri-Kansas City Institute on Human 

Development (UMKC-IHD). In the first year of the grant, 15 states applied and five were selected 

to participate, including Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and

Washington, with Missouri serving as the mentor state. Given growing interest in the work of the

CoP, NASDDDS and UMKC-IHD decided to expand and sustain the CoP outside of the initial 

grant. A second cohort, known as the expansion states, joined in 2016, including Alabama, 

Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota. 

With interest continuing to grow around the nation, the CoP welcomed five new states—

Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia, and New Jersey—in 2019 and created 

opportunities for participating states to adjust their level of participation.

Three project outcomes guide the work of the 

National Supporting Families CoP:

¡ State and national consensus on a national 

framework and agenda for improving supports

for families with children with I/DD

¡ Enhanced state policies, practices, and 

sustainable systems that result in improved 

supports to families

¡ Enhanced capacity of states to replicate and 

sustain exemplary practices to support 

families and systems

To examine progress toward federal project 

outcomes and identify which activities are leading 

to success, ACL funded the National Supporting 

Families CoP evaluation. The evaluation team 

gathered data that align with the three project 

outcomes to determine how the CoP is producing 

outcomes of interest to ACL, which reflect the 

five AoD priority areas (Exhibit 1). Findings will provide ACL with outcomes data and 

recommendations to improve supports to families of individuals with I/DD. They will also provide 

information on how the CoP and CtLC framework improve support and systems delivery of 

services to families and individuals with I/DD.

 

1 The Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AIDD) initiated the evaluation in 2017. The 

Administration on Disabilities (AoD) now oversees the evaluation.

Exhibit 1. AoD Priority Areas

The Five AoD Priority Areas

§ Ensure the continued protection of rights of 

individuals with I/DD and prevent their abuse, 

neglect, and exploitation

§ Improve and maintain effective and responsive 

management of responsibilities under 

Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of 

Rights Act of 2000 (the DD Act)

§ Promote Employment First as a key strategy for 

individuals with I/DD to be contributing and 

productive members of society participating in 

the competitive integrated workforce

§ Empower individuals with I/DD and their families 

to access home and community based (HCBS) 

and supports that are self-directed and ensure 

opportunity for community participation

§ Support advocacy efforts of individuals with I/DD 

in order to ensure their participation in system 

and service delivery design
State Data B

 2

The evaluation includes all 16 states that participated in the National Supporting Families CoP for 

at least two years between 2012 and 2018. For evaluation purposes, evaluators stratified states into 

three groups based on their stage of development, as described in Exhibit 2.

Exhibit 2. Evaluation Participants

Group One Group Two Group Three

The six original CoP states:

§ Connecticut

§ District of Columbia

§ Missouri (mentor state)

§ Oklahoma

§ Tennessee

§ Washington

States with previous exposure to 

the CoP and CtLC framework before 

joining the expansion state cohort:

§ Maryland

§ Ohio

§ Pennsylvania

§ South Dakota

States with little or no exposure to 

the CoP and CtLC framework before 

joining the expansion state cohort:

§ Alabama

§ Delaware

§ Hawaii

§ Indiana

§ Kansas

§ Oregon

Evaluators collected data from states using four tools:

¡ Reporting tools (one for each state grouping) gathered descriptive data about CoP structure, 

activities, and impact.

¡ Telephone interviews (informed by the reporting tools) collected contextual data about CoP 

activities and accomplishments specific to each state.

¡ Site visits (to select states) with CoP leadership and other stakeholders provided data on the

relationship between CoP activities, outputs, and outcomes.

¡ Materials review (on an ad-hoc basis) collected needed data on areas of interest.

Evaluators analyzed the collected data using a conceptual framework developed by Wenger, 

Trayner, and de Laat2(Exhibit 3), which assesses value creation in communities. Adapted for 

evaluation purposes, the framework considers five different cycles of value creation to capture the 

richness of value created by communities of practice. The following page describes the value 

generated from CoP activities and the CtLC framework within the Kansas CoP.

 

2 Wenger, E., Trayner, B., and de Laat, M. (2011). Promoting and Assessing Value Creation in Communities and 

Networks: A Conceptual Framework. Rapport 18, Ruud de Moor Centrum, Open University of the Netherlands.

Exhibit 3. Value Cycle Framework
State Data B

 3

A Look into Kansas’s Community of Practice

Kansas (KS) is one of the expansion states to join the National Supporting Families CoP in 2016. 

The KS CoP is a collaboration between the Developmental Disabilities (DD) Council and the 

Department of Aging and Disability Services (KDADS). The timeline below (Exhibit 4) provides 

detailed information about KS’s participation in the CoP over time.

Exhibit 4. Timeline of Kansas’s CoP Participation

Using data from the most recent KS Medical Assistance Report (Fiscal Year 2019) developed by 

the KS Division of Health Care Finance, the number of people with I/DD known to or served by 

KDADS in June 2019 was 9,004, the majority of whom use waiver services. Using data from KS’s 

I/DD waiver Renewal from July 2019, total I/DD waiver expenditures amounted to $41,267 per 

recipient.3

Understanding the current state of I/DD services and supports in KS is important in better 

understanding how CoP activities and the CtLC framework impact families and individuals with 

I/DD. The evaluation team gathered valuable data from KS through administration of the reporting 

tool, telephone interview, and materials review. After careful analysis of the data using the value 

cycle framework, the evaluation team determined the following to be KS’s key achievements 

during evaluation year one:

¡ KS built upon existing employment initiatives and integrated the CtLC framework into 

numerous efforts. KS held another Employment First Summit, an event that has been taking 

place in the state prior to its involvement with the CoP, in addition to other trainings.

CHOICES and the Family Employment Awareness Training (FEAT) teach families how to use 

the CtLC framework and tools for students transitioning into employment opportunities.

¡ KS has taken a grassroots approach to disseminating information on CtLC tools and principles. 

This includes conducting a series of five regional events where KS introduced the CtLC 

framework to different communities. A couple hundred people were trained through these 

efforts. Other training efforts include presentations at conferences and the LifeCourse 

Ambassador Series. There are now approximately 30 LifeCourse Ambassadors in the state.

 

3 Larson, S.A., Eschenbacher, H.J., Anderson, L.L., Taylor, B., Pettingell, S., Hewitt, A., Sowers, M., & Bourne, M.L. 

(in press, 2018). In-home and residential long-term supports and services for persons with intellectual or developmental 

disabilities: Status and trends through 2016. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, Research and Training Center on 

Community Living, Institute on Community Integration.
State Data B

 4

KS’s continued participation in the National Supporting Families CoP shows their commitment to 

the CtLC framework and advancing supports for families of individuals with I/DD. The following 

tables includes a more comprehensive list of KS’s achievements from evaluation year one.

Exhibit 5. Kansas’s Achievements in Evaluation Year One, 2018-2019

Value Cycle CoP Activities and Achievements

Cycle 1: Immediate Value

Value of Activities and 

Interactions Themselves

§ The KS CoP is working in conjunction with different community partners. The 

DD Council is reaching out to the Department of Education and managed care 

organizations (MCOs) to establish formal partnerships.

Cycle 2: Potential Value

Changes in Knowledge 

Capital

§ The DD council advanced several ongoing partnerships, projects, and initiatives 

including two grants (Families Together and FEAT), Parent IEP Mentor Network

(incorporates the CtLC framework), and Johnson County Developmental 

Services.

§ KS uses the CtLC framework as a tool to have conversations with families and 

learn valuable personal stories. This is an important way that KS spreads 

information about CtLC and the CoP.

§ KS uses the CtLC framework and tools to facilitate a common language for 

families to speak to service systems and service systems to speak with each 

other (e.g., in schools, managed care settings, provider settings, and across the 

services and supports spectrum).

§ The CoP diffused the CtLC framework and tools across various supports and 

service systems in the state.

§ The CoP supports KS in trying to pass a supported decision making bill in 2020.

§ Education Service Centers throughout the state provide education consulting 

for school districts in KS. There is great buy-in from the Greenbush Education 

Service Center to integrate CtLC into transition services and to embed CtLC in 

schools.

§ KS is undergoing a statewide school redesign. Students (not just those with 

I/DD) will have an independent plan of study, for which DOE is looking at the 

CtLC framework as a complementing tool.

Cycle 3: Applied Value

Changes in Practice

§ The state embedded CtLC into the CHOICES training in Johnson County, which 

is a training for self-advocates transitioning out of sheltered workshops into 

competitive integrated employment. Additionally, a school district in the Butler 

County area embedded the CtLC framework into Project Learning 

Independence for Future Employment (LIFE).

Cycle 4: Realized Value

Performance 

Improvement

§ As a result of the KS CoP using the CtLC framework as a tool in conversations, 

stakeholders (including providers) report overcoming fears, having more 

productive conversations with children about IEPs, and opening discussions on 

new ways to support people.

Cycle 5: Reframed Value

Redefining Success

§ As a result of the CoP, new strategies have emerged in the state. This includes

community stakeholders (families, self-advocates, and providers) taking a 

more holistic approach to supporting people.