Project Description:
In collaboration with persons with the lived experience of IDD and key community stakeholders, and using the results of a comprehensive review and analysis and an action plan developed during a pilot planning grant, GUCEDD proposes to conduct a three-year implementation grant focused on the population of parents with IDD, an under-identified, underserved, and vulnerable population in the District of Columbia. These adults are at increased risk of losing their autonomy to parent and their children in absence of a community-based system of supports that is responsive to transitions that parents with IDD experience as their children develop from infancy through adulthood.
Goal
To implement an action plan within the multiple systems in the District of Columbia that enable parents with IDD to support the transition of their children with and without disabilities throughout the life course in the communities in which they live.
Project Objectives and Anticipated Outcomes
Objective 1: Reconvene and restructure the Transition Partnership, composed of persons with the lived experience of IDD and key stakeholders, representative of DCs racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity to implement the action plan. Refer to pages 12-13 which delineate the approach for this objective. Outcome for Objective 1. A structure and forum for an alliance of diverse stakeholders that will regularly convene over the course of the three-year project to plan, implement, and evaluate approaches that transform service systems to better address the interests and needs of parents with IDD to support the developmental transitions of their children with and without disabilities throughout the life course.
Objective 2: Provide technical assistance/consultation to 11 core members of the Transition Implementation Partnership (TIP) to identify policies, practices, procedures, and guidelines within their respective government/non-profit agencies that pose barriers for parents with IDD when they access/navigate services for their children with and without disabilities during each major stage of developmental transition (i.e., early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood). Refer to page 14 which delineates the approach for this objective. Outcome for Objective 2: A total of 11 government and non-profit organizations/agencies will create or modify policies, practices, procedures, and guidelines that hinder or impede access and navigation of parents with IDD to supports and services during stages of developmental transition of their children across the life course.
Objective 3: Collaborate with five members of the TIP to create a series of professional development/in-service training protocols/materials that enhance the capacity of personnel across DC systems to assist parents with IDD to better support their childrens developmental transitions. Refer to pages 14-15 which delineate the approach for this objective. Outcomes for Objective 3: The availability and use of a series of six web-based resources annually by 50 staff/employees of TIP organizations and agencies to increase their knowledge of IDD designed for health, mental health, social services, education, developmental disabilities, and family court professionals who have the most frequent contact with parents with IDD.
Objective 4: Develop and disseminate a set of five tools to guide organizational change efforts to modify/create policies, practices, procedures, and guidance for parents with IDD to support the developmental transitions and their children. Refer to 15-16 which delineate the approach for this objective. Outcomes for Objective 4: Dissemination and use of a novel set of five practical tools for use by parents with IDD and the multiple systems of supports and services within DC and nationally disseminated via web-based technologies, conferences, invited presentations, and through AUCD and other disability networks.
The project is designed to maximize sustainability and resources invested by AoD/ACL by: 1) Implementing an action plan designed to advance knowledge and promote permanent change in organizations, agencies, and the primary systems with which parents with IDD interact in DC; 2) Ensuring the active engagement of parents with IDD and their adult children (18 years of age and older) from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in all project components to both lead and inform the work of the TIP and transform commonly held attitudes about the abilities of these parents including those imposed through the lens of intersectionality; and 3) Creating a permanent set of resources on supporting parents with IDD that are universally accessible to stakeholders both locally and nationally.
Products. Professional development protocols, materials, tools, short film; accessible tailored
resources for parents with IDD.
Target Audience:
Professionals and Para-Professionals, Family Members/Caregivers, Adults with Disabilities, General Public
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances, Limited English, Geographic Areas, Urban, Specific Groups
