Congratulations to the 2011-2012 LEND Network

August 24, 2011

The Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) congratulates the 2011-2012 network of 43 Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) programs. LENDs are interdisciplinary leadership training programs funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) of the Health Resources and Services Administration's (HRSA) under the Combating Autism Act. These programs were selected in a very competitive peer-reviewed grant process in the Spring and Summer of 2011.  George Jesien, PhD, Executive Director of AUCD, commented, "these programs can easily be seen as among the best in the country in providing pre-professional interdisciplinary training for a wide range of health and allied health professionals that serve children and adolescents with developmental disabilities including autism."

About LEND

LENDs provide long-term, graduate level interdisciplinary training as well as interdisciplinary services and care. The purpose of the LEND training program is to improve the health of infants, children, and adolescents with disabilities. They accomplish this by preparing trainees from diverse professional disciplines to assume leadership roles in their respective fields and by insuring high levels of interdisciplinary clinical competence.  LEND programs operate within a university system as part of a University Center for Excellence (UCEDD) or medical school, and typically collaborate with local university hospitals and/or health care centers. This structure provides the expert faculty, facilities, and other resources necessary to provide exceptional interdisciplinary training for tomorrow's leaders and services for children, adolescents, and families with special health care needs including autism and other developmental disabilities.

Collectively the LENDs form a national network that shares information and resources to maximize their impact and effectiveness. They work together to address national issues of importance to children and adolescents with special health care needs and their families, exchange best practices, and develop collaborative products. Although most LENDs concentrate on efforts to train those in their respective states programs also come together regionally to address multistate issues and national concerns.

While each LEND program is unique with its own focus and expertise, they all provide interdisciplinary training, have faculty and trainees in 12 or more disciplines, and include parents or family members as paid program participants. They also share the following objectives:

• advancing the knowledge and skills of all child health professionals to improve health care delivery systems for children with developmental disabilities;
• providing high-quality interdisciplinary education that emphasizes the integration of services from state and local agencies and organizations, private providers, and communities;
• providing health professionals with skills that foster community-based partnerships; and
• promoting innovative practices to enhance cultural competency, family-centered care, and interdisciplinary partnerships.

The 43 LEND Programs are:

• AK: Center for Human Development, University of Alaska Anchorage
• AL: Civitan International Research Center/Sparks Center, The University of Alabama at Birmingham
• AZ: AZ LEND, the University of Arizona
• AR: Partners for Inclusive Communities, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
• CA: USC LEND at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, University of Southern California
• CO: JFK Partners, University of Colorado Denver
• FL: Mailman Center for Child Development, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
• GA: Center for Leadership in Disability, Georgia State University
• HI: Hawaii MCH LEND Program, Kapiolani Medical Center, University of Hawaii
• IL: University of Illinois LEND, The University of Illinois at Chicago
• IN: Riley Child Development Center, Indiana University
• IA: Center for Disabilities and Development, University of Iowa
• KS: Center for Child Health and Development, University of Kansas Medical Center
• MD: Kennedy Krieger Institute, The Johns Hopkins University
• MA: Institute for Community Inclusion, Children's Hospital, Boston
• MA: Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center, University of Massachusetts Medical School
• MN: Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota
• MO: TIPS for Kids, University of Missouri-Columbia
• NE: Munroe-Meyer Institute for Genetics and Rehabilitation, University of Nebraska Medical Center
• NH: New Hampshire LEND Program, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Children's Hospital at Dartmouth
• NM: Center for Development and Disability, University of New Mexico
• NV: NvLEND, University of Nevada Reno
• NY: Rose F. Kennedy Center, Yeshiva University/Albert Einstein College of Medicine
• NY: Westchester Institute for Human Development, New York Medical College
• NY: Strong Center for Developmental Disabilities, University of Rochester, Golisano Children's Hospital at Strong
• NC: Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• OH: LEND Program at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
  
• OH: Nisonger Center, The Ohio State University
• OK: Oklahoma LEND, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
• OR: Oregon Institute on Disability & Development, Oregon Health & Science University
• PA: Children's Seashore House of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
• PA: The UCLID Center at the University of Pittsburgh, Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC
• SC: SC LEND, Medical University of South Carolina
• SD: Center for Disabilities, Sanford School of Medicine of The University of South Dakota
• TN: Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities, University of Tennessee Health Science Center
• TN: Mid-Tennessee Interdisciplinary Instruction in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center
• TX: LoneStar LEND, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
• UT: Utah Regional LEND, University of Utah
• VT: VT Interdisciplinary Leadership Education for Health Professionals, University of Vermont
• VA: Partnership for People with Disabilities, Virginia Commonwealth University
• WA: Center on Human Development and Disability, Unviersity of Washington
• WV: Center for Excellence in Disabilities, West Virginia University
• WI: Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison

 

About AUCD

The Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD), a nonprofit organization that promotes and supports a nationwide network of university-based interdisciplinary centers and programs, actively works to advance policy and practices for individuals with disabilities and their families by conducting basic and applied research, providing training to the next generation of educational, health and allied health professionals and providers, and provides exemplary direct services and supports for individuals and their families. Network members consist of 43 Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) Programs, 67 University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD), and 15 Eunice Kennedy Shriver Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Centers (IDDRC).

Contact AUCD's Executive Director George Jesien, PhD, or AUCD's Director of LEND Technical Assistance Jamie Perry, MD MPH, at 301-588-8252 with questions.

 

 

> For more information about the 2011 LEND awards, view HRSA's press release, "HRSA awards $28.3 million for children with special health care needs."