UCEDD Training Initiative Supplemental Grant

This proposal describes the establishment and sustaining of a diversity fellowship program. The goals of the proposed project are to increase the number of persons from underrepresented and disadvantaged backgrounds who benefit from AIDD-supported programs and to improve the recruitment of people from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds in the UCEDD by incentivizing the professional workforce serving people with developmental disabilities and self- advocates in Appalachian Eastern Kentucky. We propose to achieve these goals through the following objective: Provide four professionals and/or self-advocates with full scholarships to complete the University of Kentucky’s Graduate Certificate in Developmental Disabilities. The scholarship will cover tuition, travel and books required for the program for a total of a sequence of five courses, totaling 10-11 credit hours. These students will also agree to serve on HDI’s Underserved Populations Engagement Committee, thus informing and building capacity of the HDI. The proposed goals and objective are well aligned with the purpose of the National Training Initiative and the identified Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AIDD) long term goals.