Research Plan for Examining Centers for Independent Living (CILs) Outcomes

As part of the Interagency Committee on Disability Research’s (ICDR) Strategic Plan for 2018–2021, the ICDR Community Participation and Integration Workgroup identified that the impact of CIL service types and delivery methods need to be studied further. This workgroup suggested that a research plan be developed to focus on CIL service delivery and outcomes in order to identify and share effective practices. The ICDR emphasizes the importance of CILs optimizing and expanding their services, as they are key local providers for their consumers. The research plan provides an overview of CIL services and recent relevant legislation. Then, past research is discussed by time period and topic area, and current research and best practices are examined by topic area. Lastly, this research plan discusses considerations for future studies, to include possible topic areas, interagency collaboration and goals, and promising practices related to study design. This research plan is designed to examine past research on CIL services and outcomes and to identify topic areas and research design elements that can help move forward our understanding of CIL impacts on consumers.