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The article focuses on the enforcement of residential services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities on the Year of Community Living launched by President Barack Obama in June 2009. It says that the Year of Community Living begins on Olmstead's 10th anniversary and ends on the 20th anniversary of Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). It presents several charts which compare the total number of persons with disabilities who received residential services from 1988 to 2008.

The article discusses the four basic residential options where people with intellectual and development disabilities (ID/DD) live while receiving services and support from state-managed developmental disabilities programs, from June 30, 1996 to June 30, 2006 in U.S. These include congregate care, host family/foster care, own home and family home. A table showing the total number of persons with ID/IDD receiving services and support from state programs as well as a breakdown of service recipients with ID/IDD, by number and percentage, living in various residential circumstances is presented.

Adults with ID/DD live in increasingly small community settings, where the risk of loneliness may be greater. We examined self-reported loneliness among 1,002 individuals with ID/DD from 5 states in relation to community residence size, personal characteristics, social contact, and social climate. One third reported being lonely sometimes and one sixth said they were often lonely, but loneliness was not more common for people living alone or in very small settings. More loneliness was reported by residents of larger community living settings of 7 to 15 people. More social contact and liking where one lives were associated with less loneliness. Social climate variables, such as being afraid at home or in one's local community, were strongly associated with greater loneliness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]