VCU's partnership for people with disabilities awarded record $4.4 million in grants

By Bill Tinsley

Richmond, Va. (Oct. 19, 2004) -- The Partnership for People with Disabilities at Virginia Commonwealth University has received six grants totaling over $4 million to further its work in assisting people with disabilities.

“These combined awards result from tremendous work by a dedicated staff committed to the goal of improving the lives of individuals with disabilities and their families in Virginia,” said Fred P. Orelove, the partnership’s executive director.

The partnership is Virginia’s only federally designated university center for excellence in developmental disabilities education, research and service.

The grant awards include:

* Virginia Leadership Excellence in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (Va-LEND). Va-LEND provides interdisciplinary leadership training, continuing education and technical assistance in childhood neurodevelopmental disabilities. The five-year award of $460,000 annually from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration, will help to expand the training program to support more trainees and fellows; to incorporate new core disciplines, including genetic counseling and pediatric physical medicine and rehabilitation; and to support continuing education programs.

* School Nurses as Professional Partners
The U. S. Department of Education funded "School Nurses as Professional Partners: Supporting Educational Outcomes for Students with Low Incidence Disabilities (SNAPP)," at $250,000 per year for five years. The SNAPP project will develop and deliver a specialty component to 28 pre- and post-professional school nurses enrolled in baccalaureate education programs annually. It will use distance education technology, combined with a specialty clinical practicum with six partner institutions of higher education.

* Effectiveness Training for Local Special Education Advisory Committees
The Virginia Department of Education joined with the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities to award a $348,640 grant to be used over a 24-month period. The funding will be used to provide local Special Education Advisory Committees with increased direction on meeting the unmet educational needs of students with disabilities, advising school divisions on those needs and assisting school divisions with the development of strategies and plans to meet those needs.

* Increasing Informed Choices and Self-Direction for Individuals with Disabilities: A Rebalancing Initiative
This award, totaling $300,000, from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, will assist on strategies to help individuals with disabilities increase access to the diversity of home and community-based long term services and supports. The project focuses efforts on individual preferences and choices rather than service system programs and requirements.

* Positive Behavioral Supports Training and Services
The Virginia Board for People with Disabilities awarded a $150,000 grant to the Partnership to increase the number of qualified facilitators who can provide Positive Behavioral Support, or PBS, services to individuals with disabilities. During the past seven years, the number of professionals who have received training in PBS strategies has declined significantly. The effort will include a certification component for individuals who have received the appropriate training.

* Respite Resource Project
The Virginia Department of Social Services awarded a $57,436 grant to strengthen, enhance and expand the existing network of respite and family support services for families of children with disabilities or chronic illnesses. Respite provides families with a temporary break from caregiving, ranging from planned relief to emergency crisis care.

The Partnership for People with Disabilities is administratively affiliated with VCU’s School of Education and maintains an interdisciplinary approach to all of its activities, allowing the organization to explore a wide range of professional services and community interests and opportunities for assisting people with disabilities.