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University Center for Excellent in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service: [HHS]

Tamsen Bassford, MD

People with developmental disabilities in Arizona comprise a population that is growing, aging, and increasingly diverse. This requires expansion and enhancement of current systems of support.  The Sonoran UCEDD is based on the vision of a community benefiting from the full participation of all members, with recognition of the strengths brought by diversity in abilities, culture, age, and life-experience. The Sonoran UCEDD will facilitate a state-wide collaboration in support of full participation by people with developmental disabilities in all aspects of community life. It will focus developing new knowledge, best practices, dissemination and training, and public policy to support effective transitions through adulthood for people with developmental disabilities and their families, and improved services to Hispanic/Latino consumers and families, and to rural and border populations. The Sonoran UCEDD will bring together consumers, advocates, professionals, academic, and governmental agencies from developmental disabilities, rehabilitation, aging, and Hispanic and border issues, in order to jointly develop a strategic plan for the full participation of people with developmental disabilities in Arizona life, and will identify and address the programmatic and cultural barriers that could inhibit the realization of this plan. Specific goals will include development of a ten-year strategic plan, implementation of strategies to improve the health of Arizonans with developmental disabilities, promotion of effective transitions for aging caregivers and older people with developmental disabilities, expansion of employment opportunities for youth with developmental disabilities, promotion of a state-wide plan for systems change and capacity-building, and the establishment of a Disabilities Studies Interdisciplinary Degree Program.