The Center on Disability Studies (CDS), in the UH Mānoa College of Education, was awarded a $3M University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) grant. This marks a decades-long funding source of support that will further CDS’s mission to conduct education, research, and services to improve the lives of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and other disabilities, as well as their families and caregivers across racial, ethnic, and cultural groups.
CDS is in its 35th year as one of 67 UCEDDs, funded by the Office of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (OIDD) within the Administration on Community Living (ACL). The areas of emphasis during this five-year grant cycle are education and employment.
“We are thrilled that CDS has been awarded another five-year UCEDD grant, which makes possible our ongoing efforts and commitment to support people with disabilities and their families through research, training, and demonstration activities,” said CDS Interim Director Lauren Lum Ho.
External funding enables CDS to continue to develop and manage service and research projects locally and across the Pacific in areas such as inclusive postsecondary education; programs and services for individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind; Native Hawaiian education; family engagement as a learning and equity strategy; and digital content accessibility.
Four goals of CDS as a UCEDD
- Enhance workforce capacity for individuals with I/DD
- Increase and improve quality services in Hawaiʻi’s communities
- Advance knowledge and practices on disability-related topics
- Disseminate knowledge-based information through products, presentations, listservs, and publications
