The National Center for Dignity in Healthcare and Community Living for People with Disabilities
Project Description:
The partnership of Maryland's University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service (UCEDD), the Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities (MCDD) at Kennedy Krieger Institute, with the University of Cincinnati Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCCEDD) will work to create the Center for Dignity in Healthcare for People with Disabilities. The MCDD's community-based program, Project HEAL (Health, Education, Advocacy, and Law) is the only comprehensive medical-legal partnership in the country that is affiliated with a UCEDD. For fourteen years, Project HEAL attorneys and law trainees have provided comprehensive advocacy and civil legal services to children with disabilities and their families across the state of Maryland. Project HEAL attorneys also engage in local, state, and national advocacy and policy work to advance the rights of individuals with disabilities across the lifespan through the Association of University Centers on Disabilities Policy Committee, the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COP AA), the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership, the Maryland State Bar Association Elder and Disability Law section, Maryland Special Education Lawyers, the Education Advocacy Coalition for Students with Disabilities in Maryland, the Maryland Coalition to Reform School Discipline, and the City Wide Special Education Advocacy Project. Project HEAL attorneys also work closely with an affiliated program, People On the Go of Maryland, Maryland's largest self-advocacy organization, to advance the rights individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Core Function(s):
Other Direct/Model Services
Area of Emphasis
Health-Related Activities
Target Audience:
Students/Trainees (long or intermediate trainees), Community Trainees / Short term trainees, Professionals and Para-Professionals, Family Members/Caregivers, Adults with Disabilities, Children/Adolescents with Disabilities/SHCN, Legislators/Policy Makers, General Public
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances, Limited English, Geographic Areas
Primary Target Audience Geographic Descriptor:
National
COVID-19 Related Data:
N/A
