Background: This paper supplements the cross-sectional outcome comparisons of the companion paper by providing a brief account of the longitudinal courses of the Maine and Vermont samples across several outcome domains.
Method: A Life Chart method was used to document changes in individual lives over the domains of residence, work, income source, and use of community resources over a 20-year period. Reliability studies between states were conducted.
Results: Throughout much of the period, more Vermont subjects lived independently, were working, and were less likely to use community resources compared to Maine subjects.
Conclusions: Differences in both policies and programmes contributed to course differences between the groups. System characteristics that may lead to better outcomes are discussed.