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Supporting Families Community of Practice Evaluation

District of Columbia 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
 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 District of Columbia 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
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A Look into District of Columbia’s Community of Practice

The District of Columbia (DC) is one of the six original states to join the National Supporting 

Families CoP in 2013. The DC CoP is a collaboration between the DC Developmental Disabilities 

Council and the DC Department on Disabilities Services. The timeline below (Exhibit 4) provides 

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

Exhibit 4. Timeline of DC’s CoP Participation

Using data from the most recent Residential Information Systems Project Report developed by the 

University of Minnesota, the number of people with I/DD known to or served by the DC 

Department on Disability Services (DDS) in 2016 was 2,275. Long-Term Services and Supports

(LTSS) recipients include people with I/DD who receive Medicaid or State-funded supports and 

services. In 2016, 38% of 2,248 LTSS recipients in DC lived at home with a family member. The 

report also shows annual Medicaid Waiver expenditures for recipients with I/DD, which amounted 

to $118,910 per recipient in 2016.3

Understanding the current state of I/DD services and supports in DC 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 DC 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 noted the following key achievements by DC’s CoP during 

evaluation year one:

¡ In partnership with the Developmental Disabilities (DD) Council, DDS conducted a pilot 

program to embed CtLC tools into segregated school districts to help students plan for 

employment. They hope to expand this effort to other school systems.

¡ DDS revised their “front door” to Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) services, 

which uses a strength-based, integrated supports approach to help people with I/DD and their 

families plan for a “good life” and connects them with community-based supports.

¡ DDS has applied for a number of grants and applications:

· A grant from the Department of Justice (DOJ) around preventing violence against 

people with disabilities;

 

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.
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· A grant from ACL around integrating person-centered thinking and CtLC into the 

quality management system; and

· A new waiver application supporting individuals who live at home with their families.

DC’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 DC’s achievements from evaluation year one.

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

Value Cycle CoP Activities and Achievements

Cycle 1: Immediate Value

Value of Activities and 

Interactions Themselves

§ Individuals with I/DD review, discuss, and provide feedback on new policies, 

procedures, and the alignment of processes in DC.

§ Every CoP meeting includes a presentation from a community representative 

providing resources related to a CtLC life domain. Additionally, an executive 

team member is always present at CoP meetings.

§ CoP leadership participates in DC’s Cultural and Linguistic Competency CoP.

§ DDS has opened the Quality Improvement Committee to family members and 

self-advocates. The Department supports their participation through a premeeting, stipends, an assigned staff liaison, and other support as needed.

Cycle 2: Potential Value

Changes in Knowledge 

Capital

§ DDS is utilizing the CtLC framework as a planning tool for state activities. They 

are reframing resource materials to incorporate the CtLC principles, as well as 

braiding them into staff and community trainings to encourage conversations 

surrounding the social determinants of health.

§ In coordination with DC's Partners in Employment project, DDS is developing 

an orientation on using CtLC tools so that individuals planning for employment 

are informed even before they start services with DDS. The training is directed 

towards those entering DDA or individuals with developmental disabilities 

entering Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) services.

Cycle 3: Applied Value

Changes in Practice

§ DC published final regulations for the renewed HCBS I/DD waiver in March

2018 which included a flexible assistive technology service; peer supports for 

families; parenting support for individuals with intellectual disabilities; and a 

new home support service that offers care coordination and healthcare 

training for individuals with complex behavioral and/or medical needs who live 

with their families.

§ DDS revised their individualized support plan (ISP) process and 6-month review 

tool to focus on outcomes through an integrated supports strategy.

§ DDS held a summit on use of every-day technology, including assistive 

technology, to share information with service coordinators, people with I/DD, 

and their families.

Cycle 4: Realized Value

Performance 

Improvement

§ Use of the CtLC framework enhanced training opportunities and cut down

processing times. Specific outcomes include:

· Decreased waiver utilization in supported employment assessment through 

VR services; and

· Decreased utilization of individual speech and language services through 

community-based providers.

Cycle 5: Reframed Value

Redefining Success

§ As a result of the CoP, DDS now uses the CtLC framework as a planning tool for 

their five-year plans.