Abstrakt
In this chapter, the authors discuss the history and context of support services for people with disabilities in the European Union (EU) and the U.S., review approaches to evaluation and measurement of the impact of services of peoples' experiences and outcomes, and make recommendations in the field for both federations. Evaluation of services and outcomes for people with disabilities in the EU and in the U.S. are framed by the historical context, values, policies and approaches which have been shaping services for people with disabilities in the EU and in the U.S. over the last more than a half of century.
The authors identify similarities and differences in policy, practice and research around quality services and formulate lessons that the EU and the U.S. learn from each other. Collaborations between the member states to learn from each other's strengths and challenges evaluating services, working with individuals with disabilities at a local level and learning from their life course trajectory by collecting different types of data is regarded as an important element for operationalisation of the objective indicators and definitions of what good (and poor) services would look like.