Community Education and Information Dissemination
The USC UCEDD offers a wide variety of community education opportunities, in partnership with other local, state and national agencies and organizations. We disseminate information on best practices and emerging issues that impact people with disabilities and their families to other UCEDDs nationwide, as well as to local and state agencies, policy-makers, service providers, families, community organizations, researchers, universities and other training programs.
Technical Assistance
USC UCEDD interdisciplinary faculty and staff provide technical assistance at the local, state, regional and national levels to build the capacity of organizations and entities to better serve individuals with or at risk for DD, especially those who are underserved. Expected outcomes of our technical assistance efforts include but are not limited to:
- Strengthening the voice of underserved communities in policy and advocacy
- Assisting community-based organizations to seek and successfully obtain funding for work done on behalf of targeted populations
- Developing culturally-responsive systems of service delivery
- Building the capacity of systems of service to meet emerging needs, such as early identification and referral for treatment of specific disabilities, and addressing racial disparities in services
- Agency specific adoption of evidence based practices
- Increasing parent-professional partnerships at all levels of service delivery and policy-making and to bring recognition to the value of collaboration with parents and other family members
Current Projects and Activities
- Webinar series: Issues in Developmental Disabilities
- Peer Trainings by Wesley Witherspoon, USC UCEDD Consumer Advocate
- Individualized Program Plan (IPP)
- Voting
- Emergency Preparedness
- Crime Prevention
- Self-Advocacy
- Family Support and Leadership programs and activities
- First Connections grant from First 5 LA for the Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) Initiative to develop a uniform protocol for screening for ASD across six pilot sites, train identified providers (including physicians, WIC providers, child care and early education providers, and parents of children with DD), and help pilot agencies build relationships with community-based resources.
- Consultation and Technical Assistance to address maternal depression in the caregivers of children served in hematology and other divisions at CHLA.
- Consultation and Technical Assistance to minority parent groups to engage their local regional centers in addressing current inequities in dollars spent and services provided to regional center clients who are Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, Hispanic, and American Indian.
- Technical Assistance to Cal State LA colleges and schools on grant opportunities which are focused on disability and related topics.
- Technical Assistance to Children's Institute, Inc., through a grant funded by First 5 LA to develop the materials used in training parents to become support group facilitators.
- Technical Assistance to the Chinese Parent Association for the Disabled (CPAD) and to Fiesta Educativa, Inc. Community Parent Resource Center (CPRC). Activities have included monthly staff development sessions for the CPRC, conduction on-going leadership training for advanced level parents.on building a mechanism for their youth and adult children with disabilities to learn about self-advocacy, and begin to engage in self-advocacy groups.
Contact
Fran Goldfarb, MA, MCHES, CPSP, Director of Community Education, Information Dissemination and Technical Assistance
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. USC UCEDD Consumer Advocate
