Mind the Gap

New public management demands data-based decision-making. However, persistent data gaps for adults with developmental disabilities invisibilize this population in the policy process. This research identifies persistent data gaps in this sector as a result of decentralization, jurisdictional inconsistency and transinstitutionalization. To understand these gaps, I consider the role of neoliberalism in the process of the deinstitutionalization of large-scale residential institutions for persons with disabilities in Ontario. Austere provincial budgets have resulted in a waitlist of more than 15,700 adults with developmental disabilities who require residential services and supports. This waitlist results in the transinstitutionalization of persons with developmental disabilities, displacing them across ministerial borders. This research traces the provincial policy legacy of data collection regarding people with developmental disabilities to identify persistent data gaps and their impacts.