Capstone

Quality Measures 2005^SM:
A Bridge to the Community Place

The Council on Quality and Leadership (CQL) is introducing Quality Measures 2005^sm as a quality and leadership bridge to the community. This metaphor of a bridge signals our goal of using the Quality Measures 2005^sm to connect people to their communities. We hope our bridge takes people to physical neighborhoods and social networks spread across distance.

In the 1990s CQL focused attention on each person. We defined quality by discovering the meaning that each person attached to the Personal Outcome Measures^sm. CQL demonstrated national leadership in redefining quality in terms of people rather than compliance with organizational process and procedure.

Now, in 2005, we want to change the place we associate with quality. In the past, we grounded the definitions of quality in organizational places ­ the institution, group home, alternative living arrangement, workshop, home, or employer. CQL is again demonstrating national leadership in redefining quality in terms of community place rather than organizational place. These places no longer provide a meaningful context for the attainment of personal quality of life. We now want to measure quality of life in the context of community. This focus on community place means that the purpose for providing quality services and supports is to better connect people with their communities.

The construction of our Quality Measures 2005^sm Bridge to Community Place has required solid foundations in the bedrock, flexibility in structure and respect for the differences and individuality of the people crossing the span, and convenience and ease of use.

The Foundations for the Quality Measures 2005^sm Bridge are found in the values and Basic Assurances^sm.

• Values. These Quality Measures 2005^sm continue CQL's 35 year tradition of grounding quality design, measurement, and evaluation in values.
• Basic Assurances^sm. In a similar manner, CQL draws on its traditional emphasis on basic protections and importance of health, safety, and human security. Our analysis of our national Personal Outcome Measures^sm database also indicates that these basic protections are closely connected to our values of community inclusion and social influence networks. The best indicators of Basic Assurances^sm are being connected to friends, family and community networks.
  
  Flexibility is found in the individual definitions and meanings of the outcomes, the community place(s) that promote and provide opportunities for realizing the Personal Outcome Measures^sm, and the responsive organizations that create the bridges to connect people with their communities and the attainment of those priority personal outcomes.
• Personal Outcome Measures^sm. After a decade of application and study, CQL has reformatted the outcomes into My Self, My World, My Dreams.
• Community Life^sm. The community is now the place where we focus our quality measures. CQL recognizes the importance of housing, employment, education, health care, transportation and social capital to the quality of life for all people.
• Responsive Organizations. Bridging organizations are responsive organizations that connect people to their communities. They see the connection between personal outcomes and the realities of Community Life^sm. Responsive organizations define their own civic leadership role for enhanced Community Life^sm.

A New Role for Organizations

These Quality Measures 2005^sm emphasize a new role for organizations. Organizations connect people with community, with other people and new opportunities. People, organizations and communities depend on each other. People and communities create, foster and define organizations that enable people to find meaning in, and interact with, the community. Organizations serve a mediating function. Whether formal or informal, large or small, organizations help people get along in the community.

A New (clearer) Role for CQL

The Quality Measures 2005^sm are different than past CQL quality measures that were published in 1971, 1973, 1985, 1987, 1990, 1993, and 1997. Those past quality measures were directly related to accreditation. These new quality measures address the many different aspects of individual, organizational, and community quality design, definition and measurement.

Quality Measures 2005^sm provide a comprehensive and integrated quality management system for organizations. Quality Measures 2005^sm address the requirements for quality assurance, promote organizational quality improvement initiatives, and offer a valid and reliable method for measuring and assessing quality of life for people receiving services and supports.

The Quality Measures 2005^sm address the data, information and evidence requirements for the new HCBS waiver application and Quality Framework. The Quality Measures 2005^sm use the same Personal Outcome Measures^sm metrics to address Basic Assurances^sm, to measure accountability and responsiveness of the organization, and to measure quality of life and relate those measures to community indicators. Organizations, networks and systems no longer need one system for measuring Basic Assurances^sm, a second system for person-centered planning, and a third system for assessing accountability in organizational and management quality performance.

New Strategic Quality Initiatives

The Quality Measures 2005^sm provide CQL with the capability of working with organizations in many different strategic quality initiatives. The Quality Measures 2005^sm will support a wide range of quality initiatives. CQL has developed Seven Quality Strategies^sm that offer organizations alternatives for initiating an integrated quality management system.

These Seven Quality Strategies^sm include:

• Shared Values Alignment^sm - determines whether organizational values are consistent and congruent.
• Basic Assurances^sm Certification- assesses organizational accountability in the areas of health, safety, human security and legal rights.
• Planning with Personal Outcomes - guides organizations in using the Personal Outcome Measures^sm to develop person-directed plans.
• Personal Outcome Measurement- uses valid and reliable measures to assess the effectiveness of the personal planning process, Basic Assurances^sm, and organizational improvement efforts.
• Organizational Quality Improvement - uses management strategies and Responsive Services^sm to improve accountability and effectiveness with personal outcomes as a metric.
• Accreditation - incorporates all the Quality Measures 2005^sm applications in a quality initiative that uses a co-evaluation methodology and stresses ongoing improvement.
• Community Life^sm - explores Community Life^sm available to people with disabilities in the areas of health care, employment, education, housing, transportation and social capital.

In whatever way organizations choose to use Quality Measures 2005^sm, CQL is committed to supporting them to use these measures to promote a world of dignity, opportunity and community inclusion for all people.