In spring 2015, the Commonwealth Council for Developmental Disabilities, Kentucky Protection and Advocacy, and the Human Development Institute (HDI), (University of Kentucky) developed a needs assessment to identify areas of high need for people with disabilities in Kentucky in an effort to assist the above agencies in planning purposes.
The survey asked demographic information. Among 519 total respondents who completed the category, 74 (14%) were individuals who have a Developmental Disability/Intellectual Disability (DD/ID), 164 (32%) were family members of an individual with a DD/ID, 249 (48%) were service providers, 32 (6%) were of a nonspecific category (“Other”). The majority of respondents were white, non-Hispanic and females between 40-59 years of age (53%).
Respondents were asked to rate ten areas of life needs on a Likert scale (ranging from very high area of need to very low area of need). The ten areas of need were self-advocacy, education and early intervention, childcare, healthcare, health and wellness, employment, housing, transportation, recreation, and community supports. Respondents rated transportation (48%), employment (46%), housing (44%), community supports (43%), education and early intervention (41%), and childcare (41%) as very high areas of need. Respondents with DD/ID rated the areas very similar to other categories. They rated health care and health and wellness slightly higher than other categories of respondents. An abridged version of the report can be accessed here: Joint Needs Assessment all areas_Abridged Report_September 15 2015