Does a Measure of Support Needs Predict Funding Need Better Than a Measure of Adaptive and Maladaptive Behavior?
Use support-needs data, not adaptive-behavior scores, to justify funding requests.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team asked a simple money question. What tells us how much funding a person needs: a support-needs scale or an adaptive-behavior scale?
They gave adults the I-CAN-Brief Research form and the ICAP adaptive scale. Then they looked at the funding each person actually got.
What they found
Support needs scores alone predicted the dollars. Adding adaptive-behavior scores told us nothing new.
In short, the I-CAN was enough. The ICAP was extra baggage.
How this fits with other research
Pitchford et al. (2019) found the opposite. For young adults leaving school, adaptive-behavior scores ruled the future. They mattered more than parent hopes.
The two studies clash only on the surface. A et al. looked at life outcomes. C et al. looked at funding formulas. Different questions, different answers.
Hagopian et al. (2005) backs the idea that classic behavior scales give weak clues. Their maladaptive scores barely forecast who would be restrained.
Why it matters
When you write a funding report, lead with support needs data. Leave the adaptive-behavior scores in the appendix. You save time and still get the right budget.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Internationally, various approaches are used for the allocation of individualized funding. When using a databased approach, a key question is the predictive validity of adaptive behavior versus support needs assessment. This article reports on a subset of data from a larger project that allowed for a comparison of support needs and adaptive behavior assessments when predicting person-centered funding allocation. The first phase of the project involved a trial of the Inventory for Client and Agency Planning (ICAP) adaptive behavior and Instrument for the Classification and Assessment of Support Needs (I-CAN)-Brief Research version support needs assessments. Participants were in receipt of an individual support package allocated using a person-centered planning process, and were stable in their support arrangements. Regression analysis showed that the most useful items in predicting funding allocation came from the I-CAN-Brief Research. No additional variance could be explained by adding the ICAP, or using the ICAP alone. A further unique approach of including only items from the I-CAN-Brief Research marked as funded supports showed high predictive validity. It appears support need is more effective at determining resource need than adaptive behavior.
American journal on intellectual and developmental disabilities, 2015 · doi:10.1352/1944-7558-120.5.375