Equity and Diversity Fellowship

2018

The goal of the USC UCEDD Diversity Fellowship program is to train and graduate one long-term Fellow (300+ hrs.) who is a member of a racial/ethnic group currently underrepresented in the DD field, who has the knowledge, skills and competence to influence policy and practice at a systems level on behalf of underserved individuals with or at risk for intellectual/developmental disabilities (I/DD). The Diversity Fellow will receive formal training on I/DD and systems which serve this population through participation in the CA-LEND long-term training program and will spend half of these hours in the field learning about the roles of each of the DD network partners in CA, and how they promote systemic change, individually and collectively. The fellow will have field experiences in LA and Sacramento (with the Legislative and Public Information Unit of Disability Rights CA) to experience how legislation is crafted and passed to inform public policy for individuals with I/DD and how laws are then implemented at the local level. In addition, the Diversity Fellow will develop skills to analyze the nature of facilitating factors that promote laws effectively at the local level and barriers that prevent this process. Product: For over 20 years in California, there has been evidence of disparities in Purchase of Service (POS) dollars expended on regional center clients from multiple communities of color. Regional Centers are state-funded nonprofit organizations authorized to fund services when no generic resource is available to meet a need in the Individual Program Plan (IPP) of a regional center client. This paper compares and contrasts the activities of Californias Developmental Disability (DD) Network Partners (the University Center for Excellence in DD (USC UCEDD) at the University of Southern California, Disability Rights California (DRC), and the State Council on DD (SCDD)) focused on addressing racial, ethnic, and linguistic inequities for regional center clients, leading to the conclusion that the diverse methods of each agency when taken together appears to have the potential for a synergistic impact to reduce current disparities, but there is no way to measure the size or nature of the effect.

Training Trainees, Continuing Education/Community Training, Demonstration Services

Quality Assurance, Other - Cultural Diversity, Other - Leadership, Other

Students/Trainees (long or intermediate trainees)

Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances, Limited English, Geographic Areas, Empowerment Zone, Specific Groups

Single-County, State

N/A