Calling for an emphasis on the universal values of ìdignity, opportunity, and community inclusionî to establish quality of life for persons with disabilities and persons with mental illness, James F. Gardner, Ph.D., President and CEO of The Council on Quality and Leadership (CQL), today released the organizationís much-anticipated Quality Measures 2005SM.  ìOur new Quality Measures 2005SM are based upon the fundamental need for service providers to view each person as a ëunique sample of oneí,î Gardner said.  The announcement was made before more than 250 advocates and professionals in the disabilities field during CQLís annual ìQuality Connections Conferenceî held this year in Savannah, Georgia.

The culmination of nearly three years in development, CQLís Quality Measures 2005SM were developed with input from CQL Board members and staff, service providers, self-advocates, and family members.  The new measures support strategies that enable service providers to develop a fully integrated quality management system.  The Quality Measures 2005SM represent a major break-through in how organizations can evaluate their own effectiveness at providing quality supports for people with disabilities and people with mental illness.

The Quality Measures 2005SM combine many of CQLís existing innovative quality management practices into one core document that provides a blueprint for moving an organization forward.  They call for service providers to integrate the assets of the social environment where they are basedÖan approach CQL has called Community Lifeô.

ìThe community is the place where quality can happen,î Gardner explained.  ìEvery organization needs to become an integrated part of the world around it in order to provide the optimum setting for facilitating personal quality of life.î

ìIt starts with asking basic questions, such as ëwhat does our community have to offerí as it relates to education, employment, transportation and personal safety, and ëwhere is it lackingí,î Gardner said.  ìWhen a service provider goes through this process and begins to identify ëwhat ought to be,í they can then become advocates for positive change at the community level by joining forces with like-minded organizations, family members, and self-advocates themselves.î

Headquartered in Towson, Maryland, CQL is an international not-for-profit organization dedicated to the definition, measurement, and improvement of personal and community quality of life for people with disabilities and people with mental illness.  Known as the innovators in the human service field, CQL has for more than 35 years challenged ìconventional wisdomî while pioneering the concept of ìperson-directed solutionsî for service and support organizations, state and national government agencies, regional systems and networks, and professionals and self-advocates.

For more information about Quality Measures 2005SM visit CQL on the World Wide Web at http://www.thecouncil.org/


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