Cliff Poetz of the College’s Institute on Community Integration is one of several people being honored at a “Heroes of The Arc Minnesota Luncheon” on December 7. The Arc Minnesota promotes and protects the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and actively supports their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes. Cliff has been one of the most visible and vocal advocates for people with developmental disabilities in Minnesota for four decades. He has a long history of building the self-advocacy movement and serving The Arc locally, statewide, and nationally.
Karen Stout on MPR
Karen Stout of the College’s Institute on Community Integration (ICI) was a panelist for the program “High school dropouts: Should we let them go?” on The Daily Circuit, a news program aired by Minnesota Public Radio on November 5. She is a researcher at ICI and an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development. Her work at ICI includes efficacy studies on the Check & Connect student engagement model, as well as its postsecondary applications. To hear the broadcast, visit http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/11/05/daily-circuit-high-school-dropouts/.
ICI’s Rutzen and Smith featured in Apostrophe magazine
Kurt Rutzen (pictured left) of the college’s Institute on Community Integration (ICI) appeared on the cover of the Winter 2012-13 issue of Apostrophe magazine, which contained a feature story about him and his advocacy for people with disabilities titled “Kurt Rutzen, Man on a Mission.” An article about the Institute Web site Quality Mall titled “Quality Mall: A Virtual Resource,” and featuring ICI staff member John Smith (pictured right), was in the same issue. The online edition of Apostrophe, a national magazine that promotes inclusion of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, is at http://apostrophemagazine.com/
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Kristin Dean appointed to NADSP board
In August, Kristin Dean of the Institute on Community Integration was appointed to the board of the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals and to the Alliance’s Education, Training and Workforce Development Committee. The Alliance’s mission is to promote the development of a highly competent human services workforce that supports people with disabilities in achieving their life goals.
ICI receives $4.2 million for four projects
The Institute on Community Integration (ICI) has received over $4.2 million in new funding for four projects that build on its earlier work and reach across the lifespan. The newly-funded projects are in the areas of juvenile justice, wellness, residential services, and English language learners. Learn more.
ICI staff presentations at international conference
On July 9-14, eight staff members from the College’s Institute on Community Integration (ICI) were presenters and/or moderators at the 2012 International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities World Congress in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The staff and their topics were: Brian Abery, self-determination; Angela Amado, social inclusion; Amy Hewitt, family support; David Johnson, postsecondary education for individuals with intellectual disabilities; Sheryl Larson, predictors of outcomes, and health and wellness; Derek Nord, staff training, employment and economic self-sufficiency; Lori Sedlezky, self-determination; and Renáta Tichá, self-determination and participation in activities.
Perry and his snake are featured in book
“Snake Man,” a chapter about Nathan Perry of the Institute on Community Integration and his six-foot boa constrictor, was recently published in Flourish: People with Disabilities Living Life with Passion by Karin Melberg Schwier. The book was released by Copestone, a Canadian publisher based in Saskatoon.
Moore serves on panel at Association for Behavior Analysis International convention
Tim Moore of the College’s Institute on Community Integration was an invited panelist at the annual convention of the Association for Behavior Analysis International in Seattle on May 27; the panel was titled “The Application of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Variables From a Practitioners’ Perspective.” On June 1, Moore presented a poster titled “Functional Analysis of Self-Injurious Behavior in an 18-Month-Old Child with Traumatic Brain Injury” at the Gillette Pediatric Neurosciences Conference in Minneapolis.
Nord Elected to National APSE Board
Derek Nord, PhD, Research Associate at the Institute on Community Integration, has been elected to the Executive Board of APSE, a national organization focusing on integrated employment and career advancement opportunities for individuals with disabilities. APSE works at both the national and state levels to ensure everyone is afforded the right to work; earn commensurate wages, benefits and opportunities to advance their careers; contribute to society; and move out of poverty. He begins his 3-year term in June.
ICI launches new college prep service for students with disabilities
Students with disabilities often need extra support and advocacy to become college-ready. A new service has been launched at the Institute on Community Integration (ICI) to provide that support and advocacy for high school and college-age students with disabilities and their families in the Twin Cities area. It is called College Prep/ICI.
Read more…
Lazarus selected as peer reviewer for Round 2 of ESEA waivers
Sheryl Lazarus was selected by the U.S. Department of Education as one of the peer reviewers for Round 2 of Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) waiver requests from states. In September, President Obama announced a process for states to apply for waivers to ESEA (formerly called No Child Left Behind) in exchange for adopting state-developed plans to improve educational outcomes for all students, close achievement gaps, increase equity, and improve instruction quality. In March, Lazarus was part of the team that reviewed Round 2 requests from 26 states and the District of Columbia. She is a senior research associate at the National Center on Educational Outcomes in the College’s Institute on Community Integration.
Hewitt named Vice President of AAIDD Board of Directors
In March, the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) named Amy Hewitt as vice-president of its 2012-2013 board of directors. The board of AAIDD is elected by its membership in annual elections. She and her fellow board members assume their new duties on July 1, 2012. Hewitt is director of the Research & Training Center on Community Living at the College’s Institute on Community Integration.
Connecting Students to Learning: ICI’s Check & Connect Expanding Its Reach
To prevent school dropout among K-12 students, in 1995 the Institute on Community Integration (ICI) launched Check & Connect, a research-based intervention to increase student engagement at school and with learning. Now, Check & Connect has launched an expanded suite of training and consultation options, its staff are conducting new large-scale research studies on its efficacy, and its new Web site has been unveiled (http://checkandconnect.umn.edu). Read more.
Lazarus elected secretary-treasurer of AERA SIG
Sheryl Lazarus of the Institute on Community Integration has been elected secretary-treasurer of the Inclusion and Accommodation in Educational Assessment Significant Interest Group (SIG) of the American Education Research Association (AERA).
Rutzen participates in White House briefing
Kurt Rutzen, Institute on Community Integration staffer, was one of 150 leaders from The Arc organization who met with a variety of senior White House officials at a Community Leaders Briefing on February 10 in Washington, D.C. Kurt, as an Arc of the United States board member, was among those invited to ask questions and discuss issues facing people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the session. Held exclusively for The Arc, a national organization that advocates for and serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families, the meeting included an unannounced visit from President Obama, during which he spoke of his commitment to people with disabilities.
Moore serves on Minnesota Department of Human Services committee
On January 25, Tim Moore, Research Associate at the Institute on Community Integration and a LEND post-doctoral Fellow, was selected to serve on the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) advisory committee charged with re-writing Rule 40, which governs the use of aversive and deprivation procedures in licensed facilities in Minnesota that serve persons with developmental disabilities.
RTC receives $1 million grant to study publicly-funded supports for people with disabilities
More than a million Americans with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) receive publicly-funded support services. The majority (58%) live in the home of a family member, while 31% live in residential facilities or with host/foster families and 9% live in homes of their own. With the continuing shift toward community living, there’s a need for federal and state agencies to better understand the current status and emerging trends in supporting individuals with IDD who are living in their own home or with family members, as well as supports targeting the family members rather than the individual. These are the areas that will be explored in a new collaborative project housed at the Institute on Community Integration’s Research and Training Center on Community Living (RTC) titled the “Supporting Individuals and Families Information Systems Project.” Read more…
ICI’s College of Direct Support anchors new nationwide curriculum
After more than a decade of success with its College of Direct Support, an innovative online curriculum for Direct Support Professionals, the Research and Training Center on Community Living in the Institute on Community Integration is partnering with Elsevier/MC Strategies to further expand online training for professionals who support people who have intellectual, developmental, and physical disabilities; those with psychiatric disabilities; as well as those who are aging. In November, they launched DirectCourse, an expanded suite of online curricula that will not only include the College of Direct Support, but also three additional curriculum series developed by new partners from other universities. Read more…
ICI staff speak at conferences
Staff from the Institute on Community Integration presented at three conferences around the country this past month. On November 8, Amy Hewitt and Kelly Nye-Lengerman spoke on understanding and building socially inclusive communities in the African nation of Zambia at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) annual conference in Washington, D.C. Jean Ness co-presented on The Young American Indian Entrepreneur curriculum and culture-based arts integration at the National Indian Education Association conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico on October 29. Sharon Mulé co-presented a workshop on internships and e-mentoring for persons with disabilities at the Arc of Minnesota Conference on November 4-5 at Breezy Point Resort. She also facilitated panel discussions on innovative postsecondary education options for students with disabilities, and parent perspectives on friendship-building for young children with disabilities.
Timmons Appointed to Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities
Joe Timmons, Institute on Community Integration, has been appointed to represent the Institute on the Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities. His term runs October 2011 to January 2014. He replaces Derek Nord, whose 3-year term on the council ended earlier this year.