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The role of residential program staff in facilitating positive relations with the neighborhood: what should it be?
Abstract
The neighbors and civic organizations where developmentally disabled people reside are important participants in the deinstitutionalization movement. There are several dimensions to how a neighborhood is related to a residential program and its clients. Most familiar are the negative dimensions, particularly the phenomenon of neighborhood opposition to the establishment of small group residences. What role should residential program staff have in fostering positive relations with its neighbors? Reported are the findings of a study of how 14 community living arrangement agencies in the Greater Philadelphia area addressed specific problems and issues with the neighborhoods. Two opposing approaches are offered to aid administrators in their initial entry into a neighborhood. A high-profile approach actively seeks to inform, educate, and involve the neighborhood in its entry process, while a low-profile approach attempts to minimize or avoid contact with neighbors until after a residential program is in place. The study findings do not offer clues as to which approach is more effective in countering opposition.
Journal
(1989)
vol13
no1
pages95-111
Categories
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Community Development Nonprofits
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Neighborhoods
