» Research on the Closure of State-Operated Institutions
Background on Closure of E.R. Johnstone Research and Training Center
In the Winter of 1991, the New Jersey Division of Developmental Disabilities announced its plans to close the E. R. Johnstone Training and Research Center, a state-operated institution for persons with developmental disabilities. During 1996/1997, the Developmental Disabilities (DD) Planning Institute obtained information on 155 former Johnstone DD Center residents, over four years after they had left the facility in 1992. Information was collected on a variety of quality of life issues by interviewing consumers, staff, and family members/guardians, and by performing on-site observation of the current living arrangements and social contexts of the residences where consumers lived. The DD Planning Institute’s evaluation is a follow-up of earlier evaluations conducted by Conroy and Feinstein in 1991 and 1993.
Life After Johnstone: Impacts on Consumer Competencies, Behaviors, and Quality of Life (Executive Summary, 11 pages - available for download in PDF format by clicking on title link.)
Dawn Hall Apgar, Sharon Cook, Paul Lerman
January 1998
This report examines the impacts of the closure of a state-operated DD Center on the competencies, behaviors, and quality of life of its former residents. Quality of life is assessed from the consumers’ own perspectives, as well as those of their current staff and family members/guardians.
Currently the full report of Life After Johnstone: Impacts on Consumer Competencies, Behaviors, and Quality of Life (220 pages) is out of print. Contact the DD Planning Institute by phone at 973-642-7616 to find out more about this research.
