UNMC’s Munroe-Meyer Institute has again earned the federal designation as Nebraska’s University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities for Education, Research and Service.
The designation comes through a grant award for MMI by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and its Administration for Community Living, which supports people with disabilities in living independently and participating fully in their communities.
The selection reaffirms the Munroe-Meyer Institute as a center for training, research, clinical and community services and information on issues facing people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, said Mark Shriver, PhD, director of MMI’s UCEDD. The five-year selection, which includes the first year of funding at $577,000, continues MMI’s status as a UCEDD going back to 1968, when it was one of the country’s original federally designated centers.
"This is a flagship grant for MMI and a critical piece of what the institute does," said Karoly Mirnics, MD, PhD, director of the Munroe-Meyer Institute. "It affirms the amazing job that members of our UCEDD do in supporting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities."
The 68 UCEDDs throughout the United States and its territories serve as liaisons between academia and the community.
For MMI’s UCEDD, part of its responsibility is to collaborate with the Nebraska Council on Developmental Disabilities and Disability Rights Nebraska, two organizations authorized under the federal Developmental Disabilities Act.
MMI’s UCEDD has a team of faculty and staff dedicated to serving as a liaison between the institute and the developmental disability community, identifying needs in the community, addressing those needs with programs at MMI and working to promote systematic changes at the national, state and local levels.
Among the areas of focus for MMI’s UCEDD are:
- Helping families navigate systems in health care, education, housing and employment through the Family Care Enhancement Project.
- Offering respite coordination services throughout eastern and northern Nebraska in partnership with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services for caregivers providing care for an individual who is disabled or aged.
- Providing transition and employment skills programming with local education and health care partners.
- Offering independent living skills programming and sexual health education for caregivers and for individuals with developmental disabilities.
- Collaborating with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services Developmental Disabilities and Medicaid and Long Term Care Divisions to administer the National Core Indicators surveys across Nebraska residents with disabilities assessing the quality of services individuals are receiving.
Moving forward, Dr. Shriver said one of the UCEDD’s goals is to continue to expand MMI’s services in underserved areas, including rural Nebraska and in larger cities. As individuals with disabilities live longer, Dr. Shriver said, the center also is focused on increasing services across people’s lifespan.
Dr. Shriver said the center plans to improve its inclusion of individuals with disabilities around MMI itself and at UNMC. Along with that, he said, the UCEDD can make its information more accessible to the developmental disability community.
Said Dr. Mirnics, "MMI’s selection underscores that we are one of the leading IDD institutes in the country. Together with all our other activities, MMI continues to be positioned to change the landscape in our state for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities."