The World Institute on Disability (WID) operates the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Personal Assistance Services (RTCPAS). The goals of the RTCPAS are to (1) expand the current body of knowledge about how service delivery design influences economic self-sufficiency of individuals with disabilities, ability to live independently and full integration in society; and (2) gain a greater understanding of the availability, adequacy and appropriateness of services from the experiential wisdom of disabled people and their families, and the practical experience of service professionals.

WID partnered with BPA to design a national survey of personal assistance programs that builds on three earlier national surveys conducted by the RTCPAS. This PAS Program Survey was the cornerstone of WID's State of the States project designed to gather updated information about the current status of personal assistance programs nationwide, including the characteristics of the consumers served, components of PAS programs, and their administrative structures. This information was used to develop a resource directory which identifies all updated contact information by state, descriptive profiles of PAS programs, and journal articles describing survey findings.

The PAS Program Survey was also be used to build the samples of two other related surveys. The PAS Policy Survey examined models that include PAS in implementing managed care, decentralization of responsibility for administering PAS services, consolidation of services across disabilities, integration of long-term care with acute and primary care, or other innovations in design or service delivery. The Worksite Survey explored in detail the publicly-funded programs that require or encourage PAS users to work.

In addition to working closely with WID staff and the RTCPAS Technical Advisory Group on the development of the survey instrument itself, BPA played a key role in designing the survey's end products. BPA also had responsibility for developing a detailed data collection implementation plan and a detailed analysis plan.