Tennessee Disability Pathfinder

2010

Tennessee is a state of limited funding resources with agencies often relying on grants to provide funding for limited services creating a statewide service delivery system that is fragmented. The goal of Tennessee Disability Pathfinder is to provide reliable community service information to individuals with disabilities, their families and agency staff (in English,Spanish,& Kurdish). Highlights: 1. Pathfinder's HELPline worked with over 2498 individuals from 88 counties in TN and 37 states. A total of 5979 calls were made on their behalf. 2. Website community of resources including online statewide database of over 1750 agencies (4,000 + programs), a bilingual provider database, Camino Seguro, in East, Middle, & West TN that is maintained by 17 agency partners across the state, statewide interactive disability events calendar with 180 users that enter events across the state, Disability Resource Library of state and national resources by topic, and Access Nashville, an accessibility site for info about restaurants, transportation, and entertainment attractions in the Nashville area. All resources are maintained and updated regularly. 3. Worked with over 260 Spanish-speaking callers and families providing case management services and linking to community services and Vanderbilt Kennedy Center programs. Sponsor 2 monthly parent groups to provide information about services and peer support, led by Pathfinder psychologist. Community outreach activities include training presentations across the state on working with Spanish-speaking families. Pathfinder organizes talk shows at 3 local radio stations on outreach to the Latin community. Guests are bilingual providers in Camino Seguro database. The Camino Seguro database has partners who maintain the database in East, Middle and West regions of Tennessee. UT Boling UCEDD Center in Memphis is the lead agency for Camino Seguro West. Staff received 2009 AUCD Leadership in Diversity Award. 4. Pathfinder staff are active in the community on statewide advisory committee's, attend community meetings for parents with family support coordinator who works at Medicaid Waiver office with Dept of Intellectual Disabilities, and participate in meetings in the community. 5. Pathfinder provided training presentations at 40 local, state, and/or national meetings this year. Training modules include: Disability Etiquette and People First Language, Finding Resources and Navigating Pathfinder's Database, Working with Spanish-speaking Callers, and Access Nashville, an accessibility service learning project in college classrooms. The Pathfinder Community Training Series is a morning workshop, free and open to the public, on specific topics with invited guest speakers. This year the topics included: Handling Crisis Calls, Behavioral Services in Middle Tennessee, Housing Assistance Programs, and Summer Activities and Resources. Pathfinder also sponsors an annual Disability Services and the Hispanic Conference each year.

bilingual statewide info and referral service & comprehensive website

Training Trainees, Performing Technical Assistance and/or Training, Developing & Disseminating Information

Quality Assurance, Education & Early Intervention, Child Care-Related Activities, Health-Related Activities, Employment-Related Activities, Recreation-Related Activities, Other

Professionals and Para-Professionals, Family Members/Caregivers, Adults with Disabilities, Legislators/Policy Makers, General Public

Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances, Limited English, Geographic Areas, Rural/Remote, Urban

Single-County, Mulit-County, State, Regional

N/A