University Center for Excellence Awarded to USF
A new five-year federal grant will establish a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research and Service (UCEDD) at the USF Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute (FMHI). This Center will augment on-going efforts of the Institute’s Division of Applied Research and Educational Support (DARES), Department of Child and Family Studies, aimed at improving the quality of life for persons with disabilities in Florida and throughout the nation.
University Centers of Excellence are established at major research universities in every state and territory of the United States through funding by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD). Innovations that emerge from individual Centers are then shared through the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD), allowing best practices to be adopted in communities across the nation.
"The establishment of a UCEDD will provide consistent values, organization supports and capacity building opportunities for our 35 projects and nearly 120 staff committed to enabling individuals with disabilities to live productive, independent, and integrated lives in their communities,” said Don Kincaid, co-PI of the Center. Kincaid, along with DARES Director Lise Fox, PhD, will direct all Center activities.
Centers provide services and supports to assist in minimizing disparities in health care, enhance educational opportunities, develop work skills, and enrich daily living for people with disabilities, their families, and communities. Center staff will work with individuals with disabilities, members of their families, state and local government agencies, and community providers in projects designed to increase independence, productivity, and community integration for children and adults with developmental disabilities.
“DARES has already established itself as a leader in the area of disabilities at the local, state and national levels,” added Kincaid. “The Center designation will help to create an umbrella over our existing work so that we can share our expertise nationally in the areas of education and early intervention, employment, health, and community supports.”
Recognized for their significant contributions in supporting people who have disabilities, DARES staff have been leaders in many initiatives, including:
- CARD-USF Center for Autism and Related Disabilities
- Center On Evidence-Based Practice: Young Children with Challenging Behavior
- Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support
- Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning
- Meeting the Challenge: Building Capacity of Early Care and Education Providers
- Positive Behavior Support: Team Training and Technical Assistance
The Center of Excellence designation recognizes DARES leadership, as well as the accomplishments and reputation of the Institute as a whole. Created by the Florida Legislature over 30 years ago to expand knowledge to serve the mental health service needs of Florida’s citizens, the Institute has grown to the second largest recipient of external research funds at USF following only the College of Medicine. It houses three research departments with over 550 faculty, staff and students. Consequently, the Institute is central to USF’s status as one of the fastest growing research universities in the nation.
"The faculty and staff of the Institute continue to be recognized for extraordinary performance,” said David Shern, Dean of FMHI. “I'm proud that we do this by providing national leadership in behavioral health and development disabilities while responding to the needs of our state. In my estimation, we are a model of engaged scholarship - committed to rigorous research that makes a real difference in the health of our local and national community.”
The new Center’s funding agent, the Administration on Developmental Disabilities, is located within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is part of the Department’s Administration for Children and Families. For additional information on supporting young children with challenging behavior, visit http://www.challengingbehavior.org and http://www.csefel.uiuc.edu, or contact Don Kincaid at Kincaid@fmhi.usf.edu for information on the new Center.