U.S. Department of Health and Human ServicesU.S. Department of Health and Human Services
This report was prepared under contract #100-88-0035 between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and SysteMetrics/McGraw-Hill. For additional information, you may visit the DALTCP home page at http://aspe.hhs.gov/daltcp/home.htm or contact the Office of Disability, Aging and Long-Term Care Policy at HHS/ASPE/DALTCP, Room 424E, H.H Humphrey Building, 200 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20201. The e-mail address is: webmaster.DALTCP@hhs.gov. The DALTCP Project Officer was Robert Clark.
As Federal and state programs affecting persons with developmental disabilities have been reevaluated in the last 20 years there has been a rapid growth in the demand for information about these persons. Unfortunately, little comprehensive information has been available about the general characteristics of this group. As a result, many of the new interventions had to be developed without basic information about the number, demographics, functioning, economic status, and overall health of persons with developmental disabilities, particularly those persons living in the community rather than in institutions.
Information from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) can be used to address this paucity of information about persons with developmental disabilities. SIPP is a nationally-representative survey that collected data about the characteristics of noninstitutionalized persons, including information about basic demographics, income, work, use of government programs, and general health and disability. While it is not possible to identify precisely persons with developmental disabilities in SIPP, the available information can be used to develop a profile of persons who are likely to have developmental disabilities. This population profile provides valuable insight into the general nature of this group.
This report provides an overview of SIPP. It examines the definition of developmental disabilities and the ways in which the information collected in SIPP can be used to approximate this definition. It then provides information about the number and characteristics of persons who are identified as being likely to have developmental disabilities.