Community life engagement refers to all the ways that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities access and participate in their communities outside of employment. Activities can include volunteer work; postsecondary, adult, or continuing education; accessing community facilities such as the library, gym, or recreation center; any activities that people with and without disabilities do in their spare time. CLE activities may support career exploration , wrap around work time, or serve as a retirement option. ICI is conducting research on CLE to develop guidance for states and service providers on how to improve CLE supports while maintaining a focus on Employment First.
This one-page, accessible flyer provides a plain language overview of the definition of Community Life Engagement, and the four most important things to consider:
The toolkit was developed to help service providers develop and improve high quality supports for community life engagement (CLE). It contains guideposts for success, a self-assessment tool, real-world examples of service providers making CLE happen, and other helpful resources and tools. You can access the CLE toolkit here: https://cletoolkit.thinkwork.org
For more information on these efforts, see our two publications series (Engage and Promising Practices) and past presentations:
These brief products describe findings and insights from our ongoing research on CLE, including description of the four CLE Guideposts and how they are put in practice at case study sites. Read the series here: Community Life Engagement Engage Series.
A collaborative effort with the Access to Integrated Employment project , these publications highlight service provider practices that enhance CLE for people with IDD while maintaining a focus on employment. Read the Access to Integrated Employment and Community Life Engagement Promising Practices series here.
Look here for past presentations from the Community Life Engagement.
Jennifer Sullivan Sulewski, Principal Investigator
Jaimie Timmons, Senior Research Associate
Allison Hall, Senior Research Associate
Oliver Lyons, Research Study Coordinator
Miwa Tanabe, Program Coordinator
Hannah Curren, Graduate Assistant
Sulewski, J. S., Timmons, J. C., Lyons, O., & Hall, A.C. (2019). Guideposts for High-Quality Community Life Engagement Supports: Results of Expert Interviews. Inclusion, 7(4), 254–268.
Sulewski, J. S., Timmons, J. C., Lyons, O., Lucas, J., Vogt, T., & Bachmeyer, K. (2017). Organizational transformation to integrated employment and community life engagement. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 46(3), 313–320.
Sulewski, J.S. (2014, November). Community Life Engagement: A New Initiative of the Institute for Community Inclusion and State Employment Leadership Network. Poster presentation at the annual meeting of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities, Washington, DC.
Sulewski, J. S. (2010). In search of meaningful daytimes: Case studies of community-based nonwork supports. Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 35(1–2), 39–54.
Sulewski, J. S., Butterworth, J., & Gilmore, D. S. (2008). Community-based non-work supports: Findings from the National Survey of Day and Employment Programs for People with Developmental Disabilities.Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 46(6), 456–467.
Sulewski, J. S., Butterworth, J., & Gilmore, D.S. (2006). Community-based non-work services: Findings from the National Survey of Day and Employment Programs for People with Developmental Disabilities.Research to Practice Brief. Boston, MA: University of Massachusetts Boston, Institute for Community Inclusion.
Sullivan, J. A., Boeltzig, H., Metzel, D. S., Butterworth, J., & Gilmore, D. S. (2004). The National Survey of Community Rehabilitation Providers, FY2002-2003. Report 2: Non-work services. Research to Practice Brief. Boston, MA: University of Massachusetts Boston, Institute for Community Inclusion.
ICI developed the four guideposts for community life engagement (CLE) and the CLE toolkit to provide a framework and examples of what high-quality day services and supports should look like. The most recent addition to the toolkit is the CLE Fidelity Scale (CLEFS), a statistically valid and reliable tool for service providers to assess how their current day services and supports align with the four guideposts.
As states focus on expanding integrated employment opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and phase out sheltered work, they are finding a need to concurrently examine day services and supports that promote Community Life Engagement (CLE, see yellow box to the right for a detailed definition). These supports can be a wrap-around to ensure individuals’ engagement in the community is maintained and they continue to receive sufficient levels of support, despite fluctuations in job status and hours.
The State Employment Leadership Network (SELN) is a membership-based network of state IDD agencies committed to making changes in their service systems to ensure access to competitive integrated employment for people with IDD (www.selnhub.org/home).
We have created a series of four Engage Briefs to examine the guideposts in detail. This brief explores the need to implement a plan to help individuals participate in and contribute to their communities.
We have created a series of four Engage Briefs to examine the guideposts in detail. This brief explores the need to tailor supports to an individual's needs and goals.
SEEC (Seeking Equality, Empowerment, and Community) is a Maryland-based provider of employment, community living, and community development supports to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Like many providers of individualized supports, SEEC has had to find creative ways to individualize supports even though its funding structures do not support 1:1 staffing. One way they do this is by deliberately building both human capital (community living skills) and social capital (relationships in the community).
LOQW (Learning Opportunities/Quality Works) is a community skills training, service coordination, and employment services provider in northeast Missouri. LOQW operates several satellite offices in addition to its main office in Monroe City, MO. One of these satellite offices is located in Hannibal, MO, a city with a population of less than 18,000. But being located in a small city does have its advantages. One advantage is that a majority of the Hannibal staff has lived there for their entire lives, and they have countless connections in the area.
The purpose of this brief is to:
1. Present findings from 13 expert interviews regarding essential elements of high-quality Community Life Engagement, organized into four guideposts.
2. Consider these guideposts as a set of key principles states and providers can use to move their Community Life Engagement efforts forward.
