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In January 1997, the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services (NASDDDS) and the Human Services Research Institute launched the Core Indicators Project. The name of the data collection collaborative was changed to National Core Indicators (NCI) in 2002. The aim of the initiative is to develop nationally recognized performance and outcome indicators that will enable developmental disabilities policy makers to benchmark the performance of their state against the performance of other states. National Core Indicators also enables each participating state developmental disabilities agency to track system performance and outcomes from year to year on a consistent basis. The NCI Steering Committee, composed of participating state coordinators, determines the overall direction of the initiative. The timeline below summarizes the development of NCI.

Key Activities in the Development of NCI

The initial phase of the NCI (1998-1999), which included seven field test states, encompassed three main activities:

• Reaching agreement concerning the areas of system performance that merited attention and were susceptible to data collection across multiple jurisdictions. The result was the selection of 61 "candidate indicators" organized by areas of common concern that the participating states identified.
• Development of data collection protocols including a Consumer Survey and a Family Survey, which assesses the perceptions of families with an adult family member living at home.
• Field-testing data collection tools, assessing the utility and validity of the various measures, and determining future activities.

Phase II (1999-2000) included 11 states.  This second phase drew on the lessons learned during Phase I and entailed a refinement in the Core Indicators and the addition of another data collection tool- the Family/Guardian Survey which assesses the perceptions of families and guardians who have an adult family member receiving residential supports out of the home.

Phase III (2000-2001) saw the state total increase to 15.  During this phase, some states employed the new Children/Family Survey to assess the experiences and outcomes for families with family members who are under 21 years of age.

In its fourth year (2001-2002), NCI had 20 fully participating states plus one state in which a county was participating independently of the state (Regional Center of Orange County, California). Two important changes took place in Phase IV:

• Four subcommittees were established to involve states in the continual improvement of indicators and data collection tools. Each subcommittee is led by NCI staff and composed of volunteers from participating states.
• At the Steering Committee meeting in August 2002, members voted to rename the initiative "National Core Indicators" (NCI).

The NCI program has continued to expand over the last several years and is currently in Phase XII (2009-2010).  For a complete list of participating states, click here.