Leadership and Community Support Projects

Current Projects

Completed Projects

    • Partners for Inclusive Communities Training - The UConn UCEDD developed materials and recruited guest speakers for two Partners for Inclusive Communities Trainings funded by the CT Council on Developmental Disabilities. Both trainings, conducted in Spring 2021, were six sessions long and addressed foundations of community inclusion, inclusive education including Think College, community living, Employment First, and impactful leadership.
    • Proud Parents Advocacy Organization - The UCEDD participated at the beginning of this CT Council on Developmental Disabilities funded project that brought together families whose parents have differing abilities to support them in preventing disruption of their families. The result was a website containing plain language resources chosen by parents with differing abilities to help parents be the best parents they can be.
    • 2022 Candidates Forum on Disability - On October 12th, a Candidates Forum was held to introduce candidates running for Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, US Senate and US Congress.
    • Community-Integrated Personal Assistance Services and Supports (C-PASS) - Community-Integrated Personal Assistance Services and Supports (C-PASS) was a three-year project funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Connecticut Department of Social Services (DSS). The purpose of this project was to develop an infrastructure to promote the effective recruitment and retention of personal assistants.
    • CT Family Support 360: A Planning Grant - The purpose of the Family Support project was to plan multi-agency partnerships to design a one-stop Center to assist poor or underserved families with a child or adult member with a developmental disability to preserve, strengthen and maintain their family unit.
    • Faith Based Initiative
    • Finding Available, Affordable and Accessible Housing in Connecticut - University of Connecticut A.J. Pappanikou Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service received funding from the Council on Developmental Disabilities to develop a 'one-stop shopping' resource for people with disabilities and their families/friends/significant others seeking available, affordable, and accessible housing.
      • First Responder Resources - Designed for Municipalities, First Responders, and CERTs as well as People with Disabilities and Their Families, Friends, Assistants, and Other Support Providers.
      • Health and Nutrition at Group Homes Needs Assessment - Staff at the UCEDD conducted needs assessment to determine if a future nutrition education intervention is necessary and worthwhile for group home staff. The research goal of this project is to determine the need for a nutrition and food safety training for the staff of individuals residing in three group homes of a non-profit group home agency located in Connecticut.
      • Including People with Disabilities in Disaster Preparedness Planning - In 2005, the Connecticut Developmental Disabilities Network, a partnership among the Connecticut Council on Developmental Disabilities, the UCEDD and the Office of Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities published A Guide for Including People with Disabilities in Disaster Preparedness Planning.pdf.
      • Library Inclusion for Everyone - The A.J. Pappanikou Center for Excellence on Developmental Disabilities collaborated with the Connecticut State Library System and the Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities for this project. The purpose to this project was to improve the accessibility of Connecticut libraries for people with disabilities through the provision of information and technical assistance to librarians.
      • Real Choice Systems Change - The grant was designed to improve the capacity of Connecticut's communities to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities and their families by supporting the development of model communities that fully demonstrate accessible, appropriate, and quality community living opportunities for people with disabilities.
      • Special Olympics Connecticut Research Project - Special Olympics Connecticut (SOCT) is working with the University of Connecticut Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) to analyze data on their Unified Fitness Clubs program, which is a fitness program being piloted in Connecticut for Special Olympics International.