The Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies

Project Showcase

CCIDS Receives 2009 National Service Inclusion Project Grant

The Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies has been awarded one of three 2009 National Service Inclusion Project Grants for Project Ready to ServeMaine, a collaborative partnership that will result in a measurable increase in the application, enrollment and retention of Maine national service members and volunteers with disabilities. This 12-month project builds upon a successful, creative collaboration between the Maine Commission for Community Service and the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies since 2002.

The National Service Inclusion Project at the Institute for Community Inclusion—University of Massachusetts Boston, in collaboration with the Association of University Centers on Disabilities, conducts a comprehensive program of training, technical assistance, and dissemination designed to increase the participation of individuals with disabilities in Corporation for National and Community Service funded programs.

Project Ready to ServeMaine will improve outcomes for Maine citizens with disabilities by forging strong partnerships between Alpha One, Maine’s Center for Independent Living; Speaking Up for Us, Maine’s Self-Advocacy Network; the Maine Commission for Community Service; and the AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Vista programs in Maine.

Under the leadership of Project Director, Janet May, the Center’s Coordinator of Transition and Adults, (pictured at left with Avery Olmstead) Project Ready to ServeMaine will not only support the participation of Maine citizens with disabilities in national service and volunteering, but will also help Maine volunteer and national service organizations to better support participants with disabilities.

News Spotlight

CCIDS' Kathy Son Coordinates Foster/Surrogate Parent Training

The University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (CCIDS), in collaboration with the Maine Department of Education, KIDS LEGAL, and the Maine Parent Federation, recently delivered a series of workshops for foster/surrogate parents in Maine. The workshops, “Special Education – Understanding Your Rights and Getting Results,” were developed to increase the capacity of foster parents, surrogates, and Department of Health and Human Services caseworkers to advocate effectively with their school systems on behalf of children and youth in care.  

CCIDS Research Associate Kathy Son coordinated the workshops and collaborated with Cliff McHatten, Maine Department of Education Surrogate Parent Program Director; Sara Meerse, Directing Attorney of KIDS LEGAL; and Jan Diecchio, Parent Information Training Specialist at the Maine Parent Federation.

(Back row, L-R) Kathy Son & Sara Meerse. (Front row, L-R) Jan Diecchio & Cliff McHatten. Photo credit: Robbin Pelletier, MPF

The Foster/Surrogate Parent workshop series was developed as part of LEARNS: Maine’s Statewide Systems Change Initiative for Inclusive Education, a State-University Cooperative Project between the University of Maine and the Maine Department of Education. 

Read more about Foster/Surrogate Parent Training here.

News & Events

• Graduate Specialization in Early Intervention: 2009 Graduate Project Presentations and Celebration

• 2009 Interdisciplinary Disability Studies Celebration of Achievement

Phone (V/TTY)
207/581-1084 or 800/203-6957
Fax
207/581-1231

Address
5717 Corbett Hall, Rm 114
University of Maine
Orono, ME 04469-5717

e-mail ccidsmail@umit.maine.edu