A $2.7 million grant will fund another five years of operation for the Institute for Human Development\u2019s Arizona University Center on Disabilities.<\/p>\n
The center<\/a>, on the campus of Northern Arizona University, offers academic programs, provides community training assistance and conducts applied research related to disability services.<\/p>\n \u201cOn a yearly basis, we impact hundreds of people,\u201d said Richard Carroll<\/strong>, executive director of the center, which also includes program sites in Phoenix and Tucson.<\/p>\n The grant was awarded by the\u00a0Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities<\/a>, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Federal funding supports a network of 67 university centers across the nation, with at least one in each U.S. state and territory.<\/p>\n The Arizona center has been in place since 1990, when it received the first of its ongoing series of infrastructure grants via the Institute for Human Development<\/a>, Carroll said. Today, NAU students may pursue\u00a0three graduate certificates or an undergraduate minor<\/a>\u00a0in the area of disabilities studies.<\/p>\n \u201cThe intent is to create leaders in the field of disabilities services,\u201d Carroll said. \u201cStudents who go through these programs often end up as the head of an agency or in program management. Prior to the existence of the university center, they were unable to get this kind of training.\u201d<\/p>\n Around the state, the center conducts in-service special education teacher training, Carroll said, in addition to training at agencies in various communities, such as teaching behavior management skills to agency staff. The center also engages in problem-solving for disability service programs.<\/p>\n The center also has a mission \u201cto produce research that contributes to improved services to people with disabilities,\u201d Carroll said, adding \u201c99 percent is applied research about efficient and effective services for people with disabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"