Quality and costs of supported living residences and group homes in the United Kingdom

Information was collected on 63 adults in supported living residences, 55 a dults in small group homes, and 152 adults in large group homes. Results in dicated that (a) there were no statistically significant differences in ser vice costs once these had been adjusted to take account of participant char acteristics; (b) compared with participants living in small group homes, th ose in supported living residences had greater choice, participated in more community-based activities, experienced fewer scheduled activities, were m ore likely to have had their home vandalized, and were considered at greate r risk of exploitation; (c) compared with participants living in large grou p homes, those in small group homes had larger social networks, more people in their social networks who were not staff, not family, and did not have mental retardation. These residents were considered at less risk of abuse.