Consent screening interview for community residential placement: report on the initial pilot study data.

A preliminary investigation of the reliability and validity of the Consent Screening Interview is described. The instrument was designed to assess the ability of adults with developmental disabilities to give direct consent for community residential placement. Our three objectives were to: (a) establish content and construct validity through administration and expert evaluation, (b) establish preliminary baseline scoring criteria; and (c) make any needed revisions based on expert appraisal and administration of the instrument to a target population. Initial results indicated that this instrument differentiated between those subjects considered competent to give consent and those whose ability to give consent was questionable.