AIDD Funds Data Collection, Supporting Families, and Training and Technical Assistance Projects

October 2, 2012

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Community Living, Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AIDD) has awarded funding to support data collection and information dissemination, supporting families, and training and technical assistance projects under AIDD’s Projects of National Significance and the Help America Vote Act. Together, these projects will promote the self-determination, integration, and inclusion of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in their communities.

Projects of National Significance Data Collection and Information Dissemination Grants

  • National Residential Information System Project
  • State of the States in Developmental Disabilities
  • Access to Integrated Employment: National Data Collection on Day and Employment Services for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities

AIDD has awarded a total of $1,050,000 to support ongoing data collection and information dissemination projects. These projects will plan, develop, and implement a longitudinal data collection and analysis program relating to financial and programmatic trends, employment status, and residential and in-home supports and services provided to families of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). The research and statistics will help policymakers, service providers, and people with I/DD and their families make the most informed decisions about policy and their own care and allow for a national evaluation of the conditions of people with I/DD in the United States.

The award recipients are:

  • Research and Training Center on Residential Services and Community Living, Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota
  • The Coleman Institute, University of Colorado
  • Institute for Community Inclusion, University of Massachusetts Boston

The University of Minnesota will analyze and describe the settings where people with I/DD live in the United States and its territories. This project aims to maintain and extend national and state-by-state statistics on services and supports for people with I/DD. The project will include funding for supports and services from a variety of sources, including public and non-public, Medicaid-funded and non-Medicaid-funded residential and supportive services. The project will examine and report on the places where people with I/DD live and the innovative ways in which states are supporting those who live in the community.

The University of Colorado will collect, analyze, and report on data describing services and supports for people with I/DD. This project aims to conduct a national study that describes changes in public services and supports for people with I/DD by examining spending, including local, state, and federal spending, with a particular focus on long-term services and supports for people with I/DD.

The University of Massachusetts Boston will collect, analyze, and report on data describing employment services and supports for people with I/DD. This project aims to examine and report on the employment status of people with I/DD and related outcomes as a result of policies and programs that support their education and employment.

These three projects are mandated to collaborate with each other and work with AIDD to identify specific variables that will give the public a synopsis of each state regarding community integration and employment for people with I/DD. The purpose of this collaboration is to provide a more complete description of trends, services, and opportunities for people with I/DD in each state. The outcome of this collaboration will be a link on the grantees’ Web sites that will provide users with each state’s synopsis.

Supporting Families

  • Projects of National Significance: Community of Practice for Supporting Families of Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

AIDD has awarded $250,000 to the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities to develop a community of practice designed to build capacity across and within states to create policies, practices, and systems to better assist and support families that include a member with I/DD across the lifespan.

The community of practice will develop a model framework for supporting families that builds on the 2011 Wingspread Family Support Summit outcomes and provides the foundations for work in five states to enhance family-related services and policies.

The project will make recommendations to improve policy and practice at both the state and national levels and develop mechanisms to disseminate data and best practice sharing across states. The training and technical assistance activities for this project will be conducted in partnership with the following entities:

  • Developmental Disabilities Networks (State Councils on Developmental Disabilities, State Protection and Advocacy Systems, and University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities)
  • State vocational rehabilitation agencies
  • Consortia members
  • Relevant state agencies

Training and Technical Assistance (T/TA)

  • Projects of National Significance: Training and Technical Assistance for State Councils on Developmental Disabilities
  • Help America Vote Act (HAVA): Training and Technical Assistance to Assist Protection and Advocacy Systems (P&As) to Establish or Improve Voting Access for Individuals with Disabilities

The award recipients are:

  • National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities (NACDD)
  • National Federation for the Blind (NFB)
  • National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)

Training and Technical Assistance to Councils

AIDD has awarded $575,000 to the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities to improve program performance, statutory compliance, and program outcomes across the network of State Councils on Developmental Disabilities. The T/TA activities carried out under this grant shall be program specific and/or cross-cutting to the Councils.

Councils work to address the needs of people with developmental disabilities through systems change and capacity building efforts that promote self-determination, integration, and inclusion. The changing political climates, shrinking federal and state resources, increased need to demonstrate results, and the varying expectations held by a multitude of stakeholders creates extensive challenges for Councils. Now more than ever, Councils need the highest quality T/TA to meet the program requirements, improve performance, and demonstrate and achieve results.

Training and Technical Assistance to P&As

AIDD has awarded a total of $366,000 to the National Federation for the Blind and the National Disability Rights Network to provide T/TA to the nationwide network of P&As to assist them in promoting full participation in the electoral process for individuals with disabilities.

HAVA activities implemented by the P&As include assistance to individuals with disabilities to register to vote, cast a vote, and access polling places, and to develop proficiency in the use of voting systems and technologies, as well as support of policies, procedures, and practices that assist individuals with disabilities in such activities. Grantees will support P&As in these activities through T/TA activities. In order to assess the availability and use of voting systems and technologies accessible to individuals with disabilities (including blindness), the T/TA projects will support training in the use of voting systems and technologies, and demonstrate and evaluate the use of such systems and technologies by individuals with disabilities.