Introduction
Personal Outcome Measures

The culmination of 14 months of effort, adaptation and education came at the Comfort Inn in Saranac Lake on March 15, 2001 when The Council review team reported their results to the 50 members of the Adirondack Arc community gathered to hear their findings. Carol Dragstra, the representative of the Council who worked closely with us through the process, opened the meeting with the announcement of a recommendation of a two-year Accreditation.

The recommendation for accreditation brings with it notoriety no other non-profit service organization in New York State can claim.

According to Executive Director Les Parker, the recommendation is an endorsement of the history and mission of the Arc Chapter. The organization has intentionally stayed out of the big business, large group approach to services, preferring instead to serve the individual interests of people requesting services. The local Arc chapter does not offer group day treatment programs, nor has it opened a home for more than three people in the past ten years. The Council recognized and applauded these guiding principles of the organization.

The accreditation process began in earnest in January of 2000. The Council sent Carol Dragstra to conduct an introductory assessment and training of the methods and practices of the nationally-recognized quality and leadership certification organization.

Council representatives train interviewers to measure a series of specific outcomes and supports of people served by the organization. The data is quantifiable due to the large number of interviews that have been conducted in similar organizations across the country. The outcomes and supports measured are those identified through years of practice and refinement as the areas most important to a person's quality of life.

The review team measures an organization in terms of an established list of Assurance and Principles, and the results of interviews of a cross-section of people receiving services, to establish that an organization meets the criteria for accreditaiton. The next accreditation review for the Adirondack Arc will begin in the first quarter of 2003.

Personal Outcome Measures

IDENTITY
People choose personal goals.
People choose where and with whom they live.
People choose where they work.
People have intimate relationships.
People are satisfied with services.
People are satisfied with their personal ife situations.

AFFILIATION
People live in integrated environments.
People participate in the life of the community.
People interact with members of the community.
People perform different social roles.
People have friends.
People are respected.

AUTONOMY
People choose their daily routine.
People have time, space and opportunity for privacy.
People decide when to share personal information.
People experience continuity and security.
People use their environments.

HEALTH AND WELLNESS
People have the best possible health.
People are free from abuse and neglect.

RIGHTS
People exercise rights.
People are treated fairly.

SAFEGUARDS
People are connected to natural support networks.
People are safe.

ATTAINMENT
People choose services.
People realize personal goals.