Minority status, consumer outcomes, and service inputs in four states

Data from the Center for Outcome Analysis were subjected to independent secondary analysis involving comparisons by ethnic group of eight indicators of service quality for users of adult developmental disability services in four states. Ethnic group membership had very limited or no association with the consumer outcomes and service inputs evaluated. Where significant ethnic group differences were found, they were small, and there was no consistent pattern of a particular ethnic group doing better. These findings may relate to the substantial influence of developmental disability services in the lives of service recipients and to the effect of disability itself, in that adaptive behavior was strongly related to most consumer outcomes.