Joint Needs Assessment Report

In spring 2015, the Commonwealth Council for Developmental Disabilities, Kentucky Protection and Advocacy, and the Human Development Institute (HDI), (University of Kentucky) developed a needs assessment to identify areas of high need for people with disabilities in Kentucky in an effort to assist the above agencies in planning purposes.

The survey asked demographic information. Among 519 total respondents who completed the category, 74 (14%) were individuals who have a Developmental Disability/Intellectual Disability (DD/ID), 164 (32%) were family members of an individual with a DD/ID, 249 (48%) were service providers, 32 (6%) were of a nonspecific category (“Other”). The majority of respondents were white,  non-Hispanic and females between 40-59 years of age (53%).

Respondents were asked to rate ten areas of life needs on a Likert scale (ranging from very high area of need to very low area of need). The ten areas of need were self-advocacy, education and early intervention, childcare, healthcare, health and wellness, employment, housing, transportation, recreation, and community supports. Respondents rated transportation (48%), employment (46%), housing (44%), community supports (43%), education and early intervention (41%), and childcare (41%) as very high areas of need. Respondents with DD/ID rated the areas very similar to other categories. They rated health care and health and wellness slightly higher than other categories of respondents. An abridged version of the report can be accessed here: Joint Needs Assessment all areas_Abridged Report_September 15 2015

Latest Updates

Speaking Through Felt: Katie Peña-Van Zile’s Autistic Voice on Stage

Speaking Through Felt: Katie Peña-Van Zile’s Autistic Voice on Stage

Katie Peña-Van Zile remembers the job that inspired her play, Felt, well. “I was diagnosed with autism in 2021, much …

How an Autistic Advocate Turned Personal Loss into Lifesaving Work

How an Autistic Advocate Turned Personal Loss into Lifesaving Work

Caleb Rader was 13 when his cousin died by suicide. He remembers the funeral vividly—and the decision it sparked in …

Global Accessibility Awareness Day Logo

Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2025

On Nov. 27, 2011, Joe Devon, a web developer out of Los Angeles, wrote an article about the need for …