Keeping Track: National Disability Status and Program Performance Indicators

April 21, 2008

SCOPE AND PURPOSE:

Keeping Track: National Disability Status and Program Performance Indicators includes a set of statistical social indicators that NCD believes are currently able to measure the progress of people with disabilities in important areas of their life, over time. The report includes 18 indicators determined by stakeholders to measure “quality of life” using both objective and subjective measures. The indicators span a variety of life domains, including employment, education, health status and health care, financial status and security, leisure and recreation, personal relationships, and crime and safety. Collectively they will create a holistic representation of the lives of people with disabilities.

This report also lays out a roadmap for the federal government to expand the national disability indicator set, as well as a mechanism for installing the set into a key national indicator system. This report is consistent with the overall policy direction and progress advanced by the Administration through the New Freedom Initiative toward the goal of full participation for people with disabilities. NCD looks forward to working with key stakeholders in the federal government in the implementation of the recommendations in this report.