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READINGS IN INDEPENDENT LIVING

Descending Date Order

Salaries and Work Experience of Centers for Independent Living Directors: National Survey Results by IL NET (ILRU and NCIL National Training and Technical Assistance Project). Among other things, the survey findings may be useful to CIL board members who've not had reliable information to support hiring and salary decisions before now. And it will be useful to the IL NET in providing effective technical assistance to CILs and SILCs on these issues.
Date Posted:  September 1, 2003
Salaries Spanish Version | Salaries PDF Version

Going Home: Taking Charge of Your Transition Services by ILRU Exchange. This article highlights some philosophies and practical steps that can help launch a successful transition from a nursing home to the community. Beyond that, we feature a series of Transition Checklists developed by the Michigan Association of Centers for Independent Living (MACIL) with useful tips and information to make planning the transition easier.
Date Posted:  September 1, 2003
Going Home-Spanish Version

Flight to Freedom: Introducing Institutionalized People with Disabilities to Community Living Alternatives by Steven Brown. Flight to Freedom, funded by a federal grant to disABILITY LINK, is designed to "liberate" people from nursing homes.
Date Posted:  December 10, 2002

Workplace Technology Training Academy by Steven Brown. Liberty Resource's Workplace Technology Training Academy opened its doors in January 2001. The Academy offers a multi-level program designed to teach skills that will enable students to succeed in the work world.
Date Posted:  December 10, 2002

Improving Health Care Choices for Woment with Disabilities: WAGON by Steven Brown. CILO is collaborating with the Palm Beach County Medical Society to promote access for women with disabilities to pre-conceptual and prenatal counseling.
Date Posted:  June 19, 2002

Intergenerational Skills Training: Teaching Young People to Make Life Choices by Steven Brown. Coalition for Independent Living Options (CILO) in West Palm Beach, Florida, has developed an independent living skills program in which teens with and without disabilities as well as senior citizens teach, learn and develop skills together.
Date Posted:  June 19, 2002

Florida Victims of Crime Act Grants by Steven Brown. Each state has Victim of Crime Act (VOCA) funding to provide direct services to crime victims. The first CILs to apply for and receive these funds were in Florida.
Date Posted:  June 19, 2002

Innovative Rural Transportation: Leasing Vans to Cab Companies by Steven Brown. Becoming frustrated with the lack of transportation, staff at Kenai Peninsula CIL collaborated with a local cab company to provide an innovative solution.
Date Posted:  June 6, 2002

Center for Independent Living of South Florida Is "On A Roll" by Steven Brown. When staff at the CIL of South Florida realized that many of the barriers consumers faced stemmed from the fact that they could not read or write, the CIL developed a basic education and independent living skills training program.
Date Posted:  June 6, 2002

Challenging Everyone's Assumptions: The PETBIA Chart by Steven Brown. Advocate, author and historian Steve Brown once again challenges our perceptions of disability and independent living.
Date Posted:  January 28, 2002

New Directions in Living Well by Steven Brown. New Directions, a fitness center for people with disabilities, is one part of a broader program known as Living Well with a Disability. Both New Directions and Living Well with a Disability were developed by researchers at the Rural Institute on Disabilities at the University of Montana. 
Date Posted:  January 28, 2002

ORCA: Outdoor Recreation and Community Access by Joan Herbage O'Keefe. Southeast Alaska Independent Living Inc. (SAIL Inc.) views recreation as a means of providing all of the core services and of introducing people with disabilities to other programs offered by the center.
Date Posted:  November 7, 2001

ARE YOU "READY"--A Personal Assistant Bonus Program to Recognize Excellent Employees by Donna Kekstadt. The personal assistance coordinator at the Northwestern Illinois Center for Independent Living (NICIL) came up with a way to recognize and reward personal assistants who are excellent employees.
Date Posted:  November 7, 2001

Quality Indicators for Independent Living Services: Quality Improvement Based on IL Principles by Maureen Ryan. The need for a value-based review of CILs in Wisconsin led to the development of the Quality Indicators for Independent Living Services (QUILS). This peer review process has several aspects to recommend it.
Date Posted:  August 28, 2001

Ability Tech by Laurie Brownell. Like Center for Independence in Colorado, Southeastern Minnesota CIL has developed a program to help people with disabilities learn to use computers. Like the Colorado program, SEMCIL's Ability Tech program offers accessible hardware and software and specific instruction on using accessibility modifications.
Date Posted:  August 28, 2001

South Dakota SILC's Home Modification Program: Using Existing Resources to Deliver More Ramps by Joel Niemeyer, Larry Tolzin, Greg Brandner and Shelly Pfaff. The South Dakota SILC, Designated State Units and CILs found creative ways to stretch available funds and serve more consumers in their Home Modifications/Assistive Devices Program.
Date Posted:  August 28, 2001

Computer Guts, ABCs and Basic Skills: Organizing a Cross-Disability Computer Users Group by Nancy Conklin. The Center for Independence in Grand Junction, Colorado, developed a computer users group in order to more effectively and efficiently address the many phone calls for technical assistance they received from consumers.
Date Posted:  July 24, 2001

Been There, Done That: The Mental Health Peer Support Project by Judith Holtz, Mary Ann Jones and Keith Miller.  Judith Holtz, Mary Ann Jones and Keith Miller describe the process involved in the development of their center's peer support project for persons with mental health disabilities. The project increased services to this group, helped individuals become employed and contributed to a  much needed system change.
Date Posted:  June 21, 2001

Empowering Youth by Heather Leigh Harrison and Carolyn Newcombe. The Disabilities Network of Eastern Connecticut (DNEC) recognized that in order for young people to take on leadership roles and bring about change in their communities, they needed support in establishing their own identities. DNEC's innovative program demonstrates how they combined peer support and hands-on advocacy projects to empower teens to become leaders.
Date Posted:  April 13, 2001

Partnering with Public Health:  Funding and Advocacy Opportunities for CILs and SILCs by Laura Rauscher. Laura Rauscher, former director of the Office of Health and Disability at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, discusses how CILs and SILCs can use funding from the Centers for Disease Control and partnerships with public health agencies to provide innovative programs promoting the health of people with disabilities.
Date Posted:  February 6, 2001

Quad City Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth Group:  Tomorrow's Leaders for our Community by Susan Ann Sacco. When approached by educators in their region about the need for social and recreational opportunities for young people who were Deaf and hard of hearing, staff of the Illinois/Iowa Center for Independent Living collaborated with other agencies to sponsor the Quad City Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth Group.
Date Posted:  January 2001

Achieving Diversity at Independence, Inc. by Susan Mikesic. Independence, Inc. in Lawrence, Kansas, is another of the Innovative CILs selected in our 2000 competition. When Independence, Inc. committed to making their center more culturally diverse, they realized that the first step to making their center a welcoming place for people of different cultures, disabilities and lifestyles was to educate staff.
Date Posted:  January 2001

Living in the Community by James E. Sturdivant, Lori E. Baskette and Jamey E. George. James, Lori and Jamey describe the elements of their successful program to move people out of nursing homes and into the community.
Date Posted:  October 4, 2000

Midtown Sweep:  Grassroots Advocacy at its Best by Josie Byzek, Janetta Green and Linda Riegel. Josie, Janetta and Linda describe the steps their center's advocacy group have taken to ensure enforcement of the ADA.
Date Posted:  October 4, 2000

A Commitment to Inclusion:  Outreach to Unserved/Underserved Populations by Carol Bradley. Carol Bradley describes Independent Living Resource Center San Francisco's community organizing/outreach approach  to serving under-represented consumers.  This approach not only  builds capacity in new groups of consumers, but keeps ILRCSF's finger on the pulse of community needs, building a system of meaningful input and participation in the center. 
Date Posted:  September 18, 2000

Vision, Values and Vitality:  Bringing IL Principles to Mental Health Peer Support by Frederick Moe, Cindy Perkins and Pat Spiller. Frederick Moe, Cindy Perkins and Pat Spiller describe the technical assistance GSIL provides to drop-in centers to enable them to become consumer- controlled peer support centers.
Date Posted:  September 18, 2000

Independent Living Challenges the Blues by Patricia L. Puckett. Patricia Puckett's article highlights the Georgia SILC's health care advocacy efforts.
Date Posted:  August 30, 2000

The Ad Lib, Inc. Drop-in Center: Consumer Management, Ownership and Empowerment by Joe Castellani. Joe Castellani's submission is the first of the recognized programs in the IL NET's Innovative CILs and SILCs 2000 competition. In this Issue: Castellani describes how Ad Lib, Inc. ensured consumer control in their Drop-In Center.
Date Posted:  June 22, 2000

Peer Counseling:  Roles, Functions, Boundaries by Thomas D. Carter, Jr., Ed.D. This month's Readings in Independent Living examines the history, purpose and boundaries of the core service of peer counseling.
Date Posted:  April 3, 2000

Serving Adults with Cognitive Developmental Disabilities by Darrel Christenson, Tyrone Harrington and Susan Webb. This month's installment in our Readings in Independent Living series represents the last of the winners in our 1999 Innovative Centers for Independent Living competition.  The innovative CILs and SILCs in our 2000 competition have been selected, and you will be reading about their inventive and resourceful programs in the coming months.
Date Posted:  February 29, 2000

Touch/Ability Connects People with Disabilities and Alternative Health Care Practitioners by Tracy Williams. The people at DIRECT Center for Independence and Touch/Ability in Tucson, Arizona, have collaborated to develop a wellness program that makes alternative health care choices available to people with disabilities.  The Touch/Ability Wellness Program was selected as one of last year's winners in the Innovative CILs competition because of this outcome of increased options open to people with disabilities. 
Date Posted:  January 14, 2000

Communicating at the End of the Twentieth Century:  Innovative Computer Programs by Steve Brown. This month's Readings features two more of the winners in last year's Innovative CIL competition. Steve Brown of the Institute on Disability Culture has combined the submissions of MetroWest Center for Independent Living and Pathways for the Future, Inc. into an article that looks at how centers can use computer technology to help people with disabilities increase their independence.  While researching this article, Steve was reminded that Kathleen Kleinmann and the staff at Tri-County Patriots for Independent Living in Washington, PA, also have experience in making computer technology available to consumers. We have included contact information for Tri-County at the end of the article for readers who would like to make use of this valuable resource. 
Date Posted:  December 13, 1999 

DiverseAbilities:  An Outcome of Organizational Collaboration and Operational Integration by Mark T. Obatake, Rebecca Rude-Ozaki, Ph.D., Barbara Fischlowitz-Leong, Donna D. Fouts, and Victoria Suyat. Hawaii Centers for Independent Living collaborated with other non-profit agencies to reduce costs and expand services. Although the resulting platform organization, DiverseAbilities, is still in its infancy, Mark Obatake, executive director of HCIL and one of this month's authors, believes that the process they went through in developing the collaboration has value for centers and SILCs. 
Date Posted:  November 22, 1999

Demand Response Transportation Through a Rural ILC by Mike Ward. Oklahomans for Independent Living's transportation program was selected as exemplary because they marketed it by emphasizing people with disabilities as an economic constituency.
Date Posted:  October 25, 1999

Interpreters Membership Insurance  by Linda Allen. A nother of the winners in the 1999 Innovative CILs competition, this article describes a program at the Resource Center for Independent Living in Utica, New York, which makes health care more accessible to people who are deaf. 
Date Posted September 30, 1999

People with Disabilities and Abuse: Implications for Centers for Independent Living by Leslie Myers. This article supplements the information presented in the IL NET teleconference Barriers to Independence: Abuse in the Lives of Individuals with Disabilities on September 22 and 23, 1999. Audio tapes and training materials from that teleconference may be ordered by calling Mike Schmitz at the National Council on Independent Living at 703-525-3406 (V) or 703-525-4153 (TDD). Important Note: You will also notice that in this publication references are often gender specific, with women being mentioned more often than men. We are in no way diminishing the fact that men with disabilities are also the victims/survivors of abuse. However, most of the research and the majority of the victim/survivor service agencies are focused on women. It should be noted that men are less likely than women to disclose abuse, and they often have few options available to them for support.
Date Posted:  August 30, 1999

Peer Mentor Volunteers:  Empowering People for Change by Donna Redford and Pam Whitaker-Lee. Arizona Bridge to Independent Living (ABIL) in Phoenix, featured in this issue, is another winner in the innovative CIL program competition. 
Date Posted:  August 9, 1999

Innovative Programs:  An Example of How CILs Can Put Their Work in the Context of Disability Culture by Steve Brown. Another winner in the innovative CIL competition-Steve Brown describes the Talking Books Program of Southeast Alaska Independent Living, discussing their efforts to record the oral history and life experiences of people with disabilities in the larger context of disability culture.
Date Posted:  July 23, 1999

Disabled People's International's Fifth World Assembly As Reported by Two U.S. Participants by Kaye Beneke. This report describes the international conference on independent living held in Mexico City in December 1998 as experienced by staff members from two U. S. centers.  Kaye Beneke interviewed Luis Chew and Marco Antonio Coronado for this edition of Readings in Independent Living.
Date Posted:  July 5, 1999

Strengthening the Roles of Independent Living Centers as Advocates for People with Disabilities Through the Implementation of Legal Services  by Adam Brown. Featuring the Disability Law Clinic at Community Resources for Independence (CRI) in Northern California. 
Date Posted:  June 11, 1999

Access Design Services:  CILs as Experts by Ketra S. Crosson. Featuring the Access Design Services of Alpha One in Maine, this month's Readings is another of the winners of the recent competition for innovative CIL programs. 
Date Posted:  May 20, 1999

Housing and Independence:  How Innovative CILs Are Breaking Down Barriers to Housing for People with Disabilities by Kaye Beneke. This month's Readings is the first of many publications which will feature the winners of the Innovative CILs competition.  This article is a compilation of the four winning essays as well as telephone interview with the key staff members at each of the centers.
Date Posted: April 15, 1999

Advocacy-Oriented Peer Support--Part Two:  Moving from Talk to Action by Steve Brown. This month's Readings examines how staff at centers for independent living can identify and support potential leaders who will move beyond talking about their problems to making changes in their communities.
Date Posted:  March 31, 1999

Peer Counseling:  Advocacy-Oriented Peer Support--Part One by Steve Brown. This month's Readings examines peer support from the point of view of how in talking to each other and sharing life experiences, we help to form groups that are making changes around the world. 
Date Posted:  February 28, 1999

Parent Centers and Independent Living Centers:  Collectively We're Stronger by Beth Wright. This month's Readings was originally published in Point of Departure, the newsletter of the Training and Technical Assistance Project of the PACER Center, Inc. We wish to thank PACER Center Executive Director Paula Goldberg, Project Coordinator Deborah Leuchovius, and Managing Editor and author Beth Wright.  This article describes several examples of effective working relationships of PTIs and CILs. The examples highlight how parent and consumer organizations have identified complimentary strengths and formed partnerships to better support children with disabilities and their families. These partnerships can also be a very important way of involving youth in the disability movement so they may become our leaders of tomorrow. 
Date Posted:  January 29, 1999

Independent Living Centers and Managed Care:  Results of an ILRU Study on the Current Level of Direct Involvement by Drew Batavia. This month's Readings presents findings from an ILRU study of roles centers are taking vis-a-vis managed care. Initiated in spring 1998, we asked Drew Batavia to take the lead in conducting this study for us. We were interested in collecting data on frequency with which centers are contacted by consumers with managed care problems, extent to which those problems relate to ability to pay for health care, accessibility of offices in which health care is delivered, physician understanding of disability-specific medical issues, extent to which centers are involved in advocating on behalf of consumers' health care concerns, and so on.
Date Posted:  November 25, 1998

Frequently Asked Questions About Multiple Chemical Sensitivity by Bob Michaels. T his FAQ covers important information about multiple chemical sensitivity and environmental illness.  The FAQ describes the conditions, recommends strategies for improving access, and lists resources for CILs and other organizations.  As the fact sheet states, centers must set an example in assuring that all people can enter their offices. 
Date Posted:  August 26, 1998

Part Two:  A Preview of Independence & Transition to Community Living:  The Role of Independent Living Centers by Bonnie O'Day. This publication covers important strategies for helping people leave nursing homes.  It includes several important recommendations which CIL leaders and staffs will find useful in organizing transition activities. 
Date Posted:  July 30, 1998 

A Preview of Independence & Transition to Community Living:  The Role of Independent Living Centers by Bonnie O'Day. This publication covers important background information on why we all should make assistance to people living in nursing homes a priority.  Just as important, this is an excellent summary of all the facts--quality of life, health, and costs--which support deinstitutionalization. 
Date Posted:   June 30, 1998

Most Frequently Asked Questions About Lobbying and CILs (Revised 3/98) by Bob Michaels. This FAQ was written to provide an overview of the federal laws and regulations about lobbying which apply to non-profit organizations.  It also covers what constitutes advocacy and what distinguishes it from lobbying.  This FAQ is not intended to be a substitute for sound guidance from your organization's attorney and accountant.  Consult them before engaging in these activities.
Date Posted:  May 28, 1998 

Getting the Most Out of Consultation Services by Patricia Yeager, Laurel Richards, and Laurie Gerken Redd. A practical, nuts-and-bolts approach to help make working with a consultant a positive, helpful experience for independent living centers. 
Date Posted:  April 30, 1998