We are three community social service agencies who have been co-investing in social research and development for over 5 years. Our goal is to move beyond “best practices” to “next practices.” We are concerned that service assumptions and approaches have been static for too long–across geographies and time–and that we need to do something to get unstuck and to start seriously re-imagining the future of our sector. This does not mean we have arrived and are reporting back on our successes. Far from it. Nor does it mean we are dismissing the values, thinking, programs and innovations that have gotten us to where we are now. The future can only be envisaged while standing on the shoulders of those who brought us into the present—great minds and humanitarians who made it their lifework to leave something better behind.

We are recommending a series of “stretches” that we believe can lead to better outcomes for persons in social services, particularly people with cognitive disabilities and their families.