Wingspread Conference

Measure for Measure: Person-Centered Quality Assurance

In collaboration with the Developmental Disabilities Quality Coalition (fore-runner to the Alliance for Full Participation)

and

The Johnson Foundation

website

The Situation

The National Center on Outcomes Resources was funded by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD) as a Project of National Significance. Near the close of the four-year cooperative agreement, CQL approached the Johnson Foundation in Racine, Wisconsin with a proposal to sponsor a ground-breaking forum that would launch a new dialogue and vision for the future of quality.

The Johnson Foundation agreed to host the conference at its Wingspread Conference Center – the home built by visionary architect, Frank Lloyd Wright for the H.F. Johnson family, founder of the S.C. Johnson Company.

What CQL Did

As the home of the National Center on Outcomes Resources (NCOR), CQL was the principal organizer of the Wingspread Conference.

This conference brought together leaders from across the country to engage in dialogue and new thinking. Persectives of self-advocates, families, providers, public officials, advocates and researchers were all respresented at the Conference. The agenda focused on the need for standards and quality guidelines for serving people with developmental disabilities in the community.

Four key themes emerged for ongoing national initiatives:

  • Public Awareness
  • Self-Determination
  • Workforce Development
  • Quality Management System

Co-sponsors included: Administration on Developmental Disabilities – U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, American Association on Mental Retardation, American Association of University Affiliated Programs, American Network of Community Options and Resources, The Arc of the United States, The Council on Quality and Leadership in Supports for People with Disabilities, National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems, National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services, and The Johnson Foundation.

Many of these organizations (and others) later joined together to create the Alliance for Full Participation and host the 2005 Summit: Many Voices, One Vision.