The Ask Me Survey is a Quality of Life evaluation which is required of all agencies that provide services licensed by the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Administration. It is administered by the Arc of Maryland and the surveyors all have a developmental disability. Dr. Gordon Bonham is the principle research professional who has guided the design work and works to ensure validity and reliability of the results. The survey has been administered since 2001, although not every agency is surveyed every year.

Jubilee was involved in the initial design and piloting of the survey and had surveys done in 2001, 2002 and just recently in 2007. The survey is a quality of life survey and so some of the questions ask generally how people feel about their life and others ask directly how they feel about the services they receive. One of the questions is “Would you say that you are a happy person?” This question does not necessarily measure the quality of services an agency provides. Another question is “Do people help you learn how to do things for yourself?” This question directly evaluates what an agency is doing.

The survey clusters answers into eight domains and then compares Jubilee to both past surveys for Jubilee clients as well as State-wide averages. We were delighted that the scores that a sample of our clients reported were higher than last time in every domain. We were also delighted that our scores were higher than the State average in every domain. The four questions that Jubilee scored highest on in relation to the State average were that; 1) Our clients don’t worry about money, 2) They feel they can earn good money, 3) They have friends outside of home/work, and 4) They vote in elections.
The four questions that we did worst on compared to the State average were; 1) Can you sleep without disturbance? 2) Are you helped to be in the community? 3) Are you a happy person?, and 4) Can you lock your bathroom door?.

We are pleased with the answers and scores that we received. We plan to use the results as part of our planning process to set goals and to continue to find ways to improve our services and improve the quality of life of the people who we serve. If you would like a copy of the complete survey, e-mail or call Jan Koenig at jkkoenig@jubileemd.org or call 301-949-8628 x 101.

Tim Wiens
Executive Director