The Impact of External Funding on Independent Living Centers and Their Organizational Partners

Abstract

This article describes a longitudinal case study of 11 independent living centers (ILCs) that received funding in the early 1990s from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for the purpose of improving service systems for people with disabilities. The article examines the changes that occurred in the organizational networks of each of the 11 ILCs over the funding period. Changes in specific organizational partners, exchanges of resources between the ILCs and their partners, and perceptions of the ILCs by their partners are analyzed. Particular attention is given to changes in partnerships related to health-care and revenue-generating activities. These issues are addressed in an effort to understand (a) in what ways the conventional ILC model might be challenged by the influx of external funding and (b) how the 11 ILCs managed to adapt to the funding in a manner that was conducive to their philosophies and missions.

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