About the Community Living Policy Center

The Community Living Policy Center (CLPC) is a Rehabilitation Research and Training Center funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research and the Administration for Community Living, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Grant #90RT5026). Housed at the Institute for Health & Aging of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), our Center aims to identify methods of improving the long-term services and support (LTSS) system in the states, improve data collection on community living policy, and develop a strategic plan for community living research.

CLPC researchers and policy experts (see the contact page for a complete list) are affiliated with UCSF and the following partner organizations:

• Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund
• National Council on Aging and the Disability and Aging Collaborative
• Department of Disability and Human Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago
• PHI (formerly the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute)
• Topeka Independent Living Resource Center
• Sibling Leadership Network

We conduct research in the following areas:

• Identification of promising practices in state LTSS systems.
• Investigation of quality and outcome measurement in LTSS and development of methods for improved monitoring of progress in state LTSS systems.
• Collecting and disseminating information on state LTSS policies, practices, and programs.  These include
  • Policies related to access to home- and community-based services (HCBS)
  • Data on HCBS participants and expenditures
  • Information on worker registries and consumer-worker matching services
  • Data on worker wages and benefits
  • Information on worker training standards and their development
• Conducting evaluations of managed LTSS systems in California and Illinois.
• Quantitative research on selected topics in community living, including:
  • Trends in family caregiving
  • State variation in community participation among people with disabilities
• Developing a strategic plan for community living research.

CLPC training activities include the College of Personal Assistance and Caregiving (CPAC), an online training curriculum for both paid home care workers and family caregivers, with an emphasis on person-centered, consumer-directed services that support independent living in the home and community.