May 8, 2020

ACL Announces Funding Opportunity for Closing the Health Disparity Gap for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities The Administration on Disabilities (AoD) at the Administration for Community Living (ACL) is announcing a new funding opportunity for "Closing the Health Disparity Gap for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (ID/DD): Strengthening the U.S. Health Care Workforce". Many health care providers do not receive the training needed to ensure that individuals with ID/DD receive adequate and equitable care. AoD seeks to improve health outcomes for the ID/DD population by changing the training received by medical and other health-professions students. This project is a critical activity of AoD’s strategic priority to reduce health disparities, extend life expectancy, and ensure access to equitable and accessible healthcare. It will complement the AoD’s Center for Dignity in Healthcare for People with Disabilities (CDHPD) at the University of Cincinnati Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCCEDD) funded last year. ACL seeks to fund one five-year cooperative agreement (totaling $1,750,000) that will increase and accelerate current efforts to embed ID/DD content into medical and allied health school education programs. The goal of the project is to improve quality healthcare for individuals with ID/DD by increasing the ID/DD-specific knowledge, skills, attitudes, and competence of the health care workforce.  The intended outcomes of the project will be an increase in the number of medical and allied health professional students trained in ID/DD; increased student knowledge of the health care needs of individuals with ID/DD; increased number of medical and allied health professionals reporting being prepared to provide health care to individuals with ID/DD; and increasing the knowledge and skills of the medical and allied health care faculty to train students on the ID/DD population. View more details and application instructions. Please visit the link above for more details about the grant opportunity and application process. This grant opportunity closes on June 29, 2020.