Increasing Outreach and Awareness Programs for Hispanic Families of Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental DisabilitiesD

Hispanic people in Alabama face many barriers to accessing support for their children with intellectual and developmental disabilities including lack of language access, racism and bias, limited economic resources, limited community support networks, and immigration status. In July 2020, a state-level funding agency solicited proposals that support marginalized communities. A team, comprised of two faculty and a family navigator from a regional autism network, proposed a program and were selected for funding. The project supported Hispanic families during COVID-19 via Zoom, providing information and training from professionals on topics of interest to Hispanic families. Depending on the topic area and team member expertise, team members provided training or recruited qualified professionals to conduct trainings. The grant funded language access in Spanish and with collaboration from another community organization, in Korean. The present program description covers the first year of grant implementation and provides a roadmap for using grant funding to bring educational opportunities to Hispanic parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities.