The Organizational Innovation and Transformation Series is a series of case study reports and articles from the Center on Human Policy related to innovative change, especially organizational change from traditional facility-based, group-based services to individualized supports. The case studies and reports are based on site visits to organizations offering supports for community living and for community employment that are engaged in organizational change initiatives. These initiatives encompass closure of facility-based services as well as the development of new individualized support services. The purpose of the visits, and the written studies and reports, is to learn about and document strategies, lessons, and challenges related to organizational transformation.
- A Virtual Personal Assistant: Technological Innovation and Individualized Supports (May 2013) by Pam Walker is a brief case study describing the use of a “virtual personal assistant” by a woman with mild TBI. It offers an example of a creative approach to individualized supports.
- Strategies for Implementing Consumer Directed Services: An Organizational Culture of Change and Innovation at Gateways Community Services (April 2012) by Pam Walker describes an organization that has shifted to consumer directed supports, as well as some of the strategies they have used to accomplish this shift.
- Resources on Organizational Change: From Group Homes and Other Facility-Based Services to Individualized Supports (June 2011) by Pam Walker is a Center on Human Policy information package containing resources related to organizational transformation from facility-based services to individualized supports. It includes brief descriptions of several organizations with experience in transformation, a bibliography of materials related to organizational change, and selected case studies of organizations that are working on transformation. The information package will be updated on an ongoing basis.
- Organizational Change: Approaches and Strategies (June 2010) by Pam Walker is a PowerPoint presentation reviewing the change from traditional, group based, facility-based services to individualized, person-centered, self-directed services.
- Emerging “Lives of Distinction” at Ulster-Greene Arc: Stepping Out of the Organizational “Comfort Zone” (2011) by Pam Walker describes some steps and strategies used by a large, traditional agency as part of the process of transformation toward individualized supports.
- “Trusting Our Process”: Organizational Transformation in the Context of a Culture of Innovation: The Arc of Renssalaer County (2011) by Pam Walker describes the shift away from facility-based services toward individualized supports at The Arc of Rennselaer County. This transformation has been based upon the development and evolution of a culture of innovation within the organization.
- Getting a Life in Wayne and Oakland Counties, Michigan: Using Self-Determination as a Foundation for Organizational Change (2009) by Pam Walker describes the organizational transformation that has taken place at Community Living Services, Inc., based in Wayne, Michigan. This transformational effort has been occurring over the past 15 years and is still ongoing. Based on the principles of self-determination, it involves shifting away from group homes, sheltered workshops, and a medical model of services, toward self-determination, home ownership, and community employment.
- Arc of Howard County, Maryland: Reclaiming Person-Centered Planning (2010) by Pam Walker describes the efforts of The Arc of Howard County to increase their capacity to provide person-centered supports. For a long time, The Arc had been making efforts to provide individualized, person-centered services. However, it was challenging to maintain the energy to do this. Since August 2008, through a Community of Practice in Maryland, The Arc has renewed its efforts to offer individualized supports and to make organizational changes that will help to facilitate this.
- The Seeing is Believing Project: A “Lifeline” for Organizational Change in North Carolina (2010) by Pam Walker describes the Seeing Is Believing Project, an organizational change initiative in North Carolina. It describes strategies for change, as well as issues and challenges related to organizational change.
- Facility Conversion and Beyond at the Arc Northern Chesapeake Region: A Story of Visionary Leadership and Strategic Planning (2010) by Pam Walker describes the journey of organizational change at The Arc Northern Chesapeake Region as they worked on transformation through facility closure and then through further individualization of supports and services.
This project is funded through a subcontract with the Research and Training Center on Community Living and Employment, University of Minnesota, supported by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), through Contract No. H133B080005. Members of the Center are encouraged to express their opinions; however, these do not necessarily represent the official position of NIDRR and no endorsement should be inferred.