Information and Referral Services in IDD: Toward Integrated and Comprehensive Services?

Abstract Faced with the difficulties that most everyone has in accessing needed social services, information and referral (I&R) services have arisen and gained prominence across the United States. This need for I&R services would seem even more pronounced when dealing with disability services, as disability service-systems are notoriously complex and hard to navigate, with families and individuals experiencing difficulties in learning about, becoming eligible for, applying for, and receiving disability services. In this review, we first describe the numerous disability-related services available in education, health, law, employment, adult services, and family support, before examining the nation's I&R movement and how I&R services operate. We then detail one disability-related I&R service, Tennessee Disability Pathfinder, before exploring the future promise and challenges facing such disability-related I&R services. Although woefully under-developed, disability-related I&R services would seem a critical, almost necessary service for parents, individuals, and agencies as they navigate our country's complex and changing disability service systems.