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News Release

The Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council (ODDC)
8 East Long Street, Suite 1200
COL OH 43215

Contact: Fatica Diana Ayers (614)466-5232

October 22, 2003

Residence Report Card Goes Statewide

For the first time, people with disabilities and their families statewide will be able to voice how satisfied they are with the their residential services by completing a "report card" with 15 simple questions that address five major areas: services provided, quality, rights, health and safety, and overall satisfaction.

Under a project awarded by the Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council (ODDC), project personnel will poll people statewide who use publicly funded residential services monitored by agencies such as county boards of mental retardation and developmental disabilities. The project will make report card scores available on a website as each county is completed. Each county will also receive a written summary of results for distribution to survey participants and potential residential service users.

The purpose of the survey is three-fold:

Give residential providers feedback so they can improve their services.
Give information to entities responsible for monitoring such services, such as county boards of mental retardation and developmental disabilities.
Assist other individuals and their families when they choose a provider.

The project team expects to interview all eligible individuals in the state, county-by-county, by March 2004. A second round of interviews with people in all 88 counties will occur before the end of the project (2005). Seven counties participated in a pilot: Crawford, Logan, Madison, Champaign, Clinton, Morrow, and Fairfield. Sixteen more are completing steps to participate in the project. Approximately 1,731 individuals/family members and/or guardians have completed the interview process.

ODDC awarded the report card grant project, also known as "My Voice, My Choice," to Norwich Consulting Services, Ltd., of Columbus, Ohio, in 2001. Susan Dlouhy is president of Norwich Consulting Services, Ltd., and project director. Jackie Teny-Miller is associate project director. My Voice, My Choice will probably represent an investment of more than $350,000 federal dollars in Ohio by the time the project ends in 2005. Ultimately, ODDC would like to see the report card used regularly to help assess publicly funded residential services for people with disabilities.

To learn more about My Voice, My Choice, Ohio’s Provider Report Card, go to the website: http://www.myvoicemychoice.com/or go to the Arc Link which is: thearclink.org.

ODDC is a planning and advocacy group of 35 members appointed by the governor. ODDC receives and disseminates federal funds to create visions, influence public policy, pilot new approaches, empower individuals and families, and advocate system change.