This longitudinal study followed a cohort of nearly 11,000 people with learning disabilities over a period of 8 years. The researchers were looking at issues relating to those people who had moved from family care and those who had remained.

The majority of those followed , 85%, continued to live with their families. For 67%, there were no plans for a future move as this was not deemed necessary.

The researchers were concerned with identifying the predictors of moving and found the two main predictors were that a need had been previously recorded and that the family had used respite services during the 8 years

Interestingly, the study found that only a quarter of those people who had been identified as needing to move had done so in the 8 year period, and that for nearly two thirds of those who had moved, no prior indication of need had been recorded.

Moving From Family Care to Residential and Supported Accommodation: National, Longitudinal Study of People With Intellectual Disabilities McConkey, R et al., in American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: July 2011, Vol. 116, No. 4, pp. 305-314.