Reducing the number of people in large institutions in the U.S.
"The number of people with intellectual or developmental disabilities living in institutions has been declining for decades."
"In 2020, 113,819 people with intellectual or developmental disabilities getting long-term supports (who didn’t live with a family member) lived in settings of 7 or more people.
"Of them:
- 49,533 in group settings of seven to 15 people,
- 36,283 in group settings of 16 or more,
- 25,749 in nursing homes,
- 2,254 (0.4%) in psychiatric facilities.
"Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Healthy People 2030 goal is to reduce the proportion of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities living in facilities with sevenor more people to 11.5% by 2030.
"In 1998, 46% of people with intellectual disabilities were in settings of 7 or more people. In 2020, it was down to 20%.If the trend continues, the CDC goal will be achieved by 2028."
These quotes and numbers are from a research brief (December 2024) by Institute on Community Integration at the University of Minnesota.
There are 2 lessons in these numbers:
- It is possible to have long-term, specific, state-level data on institutionalisation of people with intellectual disabilities.
- It is possible to significantly reduce the number of people with intellectual disabilities in large institutions.
This summary was published as part of Together+ project platform to exchange practice in transition from institutions to community-based support. Platform participants learn and exchange on approaches and progress in different countries. Platform participants take these lessons in developing new collaborations and ways of speeding up deinstitutionalisation in their countries.
