UCEDD Core Grant
NY-Strong Center for Developmental Disabilities, UCEDD/LEND | |||
Program Type | UCEDD | Fiscal Year | 2020 |
Contact | Suzannah Iadarola, PhD | ||
[email protected] | |||
Phone | 585-276-6484 | ||
Project Description | |||
NEED: There are millions of Americans living with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). People with IDD experience significant disparities in terms of health, educational outcomes, employment status, and income. In Rochester, NY we have especially high disparities documented, including some of the highest poverty rates for people with IDD in the country. The Strong Center for Developmental Disabilities is the Rochester UCEDD focused on advancing policy and practice for individuals with developmental and other disabilities, their families, and communities through research, education, and service. OVERALL GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: We aim to accomplish this through developing partnerships, fostering accessibility, translating research to best practice, and promoting diversity and inclusion with and for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in our community. The Strong Center for Developmental Disabilities (SCDD) envisions a world in which people of all ages with intellectual and developmental disabilities are valued and respected, lead self-determined lives in the community of their choice, and contribute to that community and society at large. SCDD embraces the principles of equal rights and access, cultural and linguistic competence, self-determination, and quality of life within a society that fully includes individuals of all ages with intellectual and developmental disabilities. SCDD advocates for each individual to choose and direct life goals and gain access to supports and experiences that enhance such choices. SCDD aims to promote community impact through four focus areas: Education, Health Equity, Employment, and Recreation. UNUSAL FEATURES: SCDD has a unique composition of faculty and staff. Our interdisciplinary team includes psychologists, pediatricians, social workers, community engagement experts, public health professionals, behavior analysts, teachers, educators, and self-advocates. Our team includes several self-advocates who identify as people with IDD. The Rochester site houses a UCEDD, LEND, and as of the past month and IDDRC. Given this culmination, we have established a shared leadership in IDD committee for the university. EXPECTED BENEFITS: Based on previous years, we anticipate benefits across the following dimensions: 1) increasing community and provider capacity to provide appropriate education, healthcare, and programming for people with IDD; 2) increased training on IDD and inclusion for new providers and trainees; 3) increased access to inclusive services within educational, healthcare, and recreation settings; 4) extended community collaborations with other disability-serving organizations, as well as those that might educate or employ people with IDD; 5) increased cultural competence at the intersection of disability and other marginalized identities. |