RTC-CL Co-hosts National Reinventing Quality Conference in July

Mon May 14 2018
Photograph of Harborplace in Baltimore, Maryland, showing the waterfront hotel and buildings and an old sailing ship in the harbor.

ICI's Research and Training Center on Community Living  (RTC-CL) will jointly host the 2018 Reinventing Quality conference  in Baltimore, July 29-31. Reinventing Quality is a biennial conference that gathers and disseminates "best practice" information on individualized, person-centered supports and related quality management activities. The theme of this year's conference is, "Building an Infrastructure that Promotes Equity and Diversity." RTC-CL was instrumental in starting these conferences in 1991 and the center has supported them ever since, often providing funding and/or talent.

Eight ICI staffers will co-present at this year's conference with other collaborators from around the country:

  • Brian Abery and Renáta Tichá: "Next Steps in Quality Measurement" 

  • Heidi Eschenbacher, Jerry Smith, and John Smith: "Communicating Community Inclusion Through Media and Advocacy" 

  • Rachel Freeman: "Collaboration on Policy and System Issues in Positive Behavior Support"  

  • Amy Hewitt: "Elevating the Crisis: Leveraging Data and National Reports to Effect Change" 

  • Kelly Nye-Lengerman: "The Care and Feeding of the Workforce: Supporting Quality Employment Consultants in Optimizing Employment Outcomes."

"Reinventing Quality brings together advocates, policymakers, providers, and state agencies to share and exchange ideas about some of the most promising practices in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities," says Nye-Lengerman. "Reinventing Quality highlights many of the 'bright spots' of creative and inclusive practices and policies that are happening within states and communities." 

The other hosts of this year's conference are the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services (NASDDDS), Human Services Research Institute (HSRI), University of Delaware National Leadership Consortium, American Network of Community Options and Resources (ANCOR), American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD), and TASH. The conference is at the Baltimore Renaissance Harborplace Hotel (pictured) and registration is open.