Interagency Outreach Training Initiative

ABOUT IOTI

The description below provides a general overview of the Interagency Outreach Training Initiative in six sections: purpose, scope, recent results, operation, history, and funding process.

PURPOSE

The Interagency Outreach Training Initiative (IOTI) is intended to improve the lives of people with disabilities by supporting training for consumers and agency personnel. It has three unique features:

1. The IOTI initiative focuses on areas where there are gaps in training already offered within the state. Thus, training can be directed to critical needs. For example, people may need help in learning to use newly-developed equipment or to understand changes in service delivery that result from policy shifts.

2. The IOTI promotes coordinated training across agencies. A Steering Council makes decisions about IOTI policies and procedures. Its members are consumers with disabilities and representatives of the state agencies that serve people with disabilities. The Center for Persons with Disabilities at Utah State University carries out the Council's decisions.

3. The IOTI supports innovative training. The Steering Council determines training needs and request proposals for training from public and non-profit agencies throughout the state. Only those proposals with the most merit are funded. Thus the training that results reflects the thinking of many, including representatives of people who need training and those who provide it.

SCOPE

Since 1995, the IOTI has funded more than 100 projects conducted by 31 state and private agencies and organizations. Projects have included:

Supported employment training for paraprofessionals
Training leading to certification of interpreters for individuals who are deaf
Education to make managed care work, for Medical Care Organizations personnel and for consumers with disabilities who use a Medicaid managed care plan
Person-centered outcomes, self determination, and futures planning
Education for individuals with disabilities in training their own personal attendants
Training in self advocacy and self determination skills
Assistive technology training for persons who are aging and agency personnel
Interdisciplinary training of early intervention service providers
Training individuals with disabilities about human relationships
Education for families, including those in minority communities, in understanding transition issues, Section 504 provisions, awareness of local resources, and parent mentoring
Training for paraprofessionals, professionals, and families to address mental health issues in young children
Training for paraprofessionals and professionals in transition issues -- EI and postsecondary
Training in assistive technology
Training for law enforcement and judicial personnel regarding persons with disabilities and/or those with mental health issues in the criminal justice system
Training for ILC staff in outreach to minority populations
Training for benefits planning and outreach counselors
Training in sexual violence prevention for people with disabilities
Training for paraprofessionals and professionals in recognizing dual diagnosis
Training for consumers in locating and maintaining affordable housing
Training for families in recognizing and preventing abuse and neglect in nursing homes
Training for Planning and Benefits Counselors (BPAO)
Emergency Response Training

RECENT RESULTS

The 10 projects funded for the 2008-09 year provided training to nearly 2500 participants. Training was provided in more than 40 locations throughout the state as well as online training. Overall, nearly 135 agencies and organizations have participated in IOTI funded training.

HISTORY

The IOTI was funded in 1995 by the Utah State Legislature. It was intended to coordinate training efforts across agencies in order to reduce costly duplication. Also, it was to address areas of current need. For example, one recognized training gap was in the education of paraprofessionals who provide supports to people with disabilities. Paraprofessionals serve in varied roles in many agencies: education, adult services, early intervention, and health care. Often paraprofessionals have not had preservice training to help them learn to serve people with disabilities. The IOTI offered a means to provide educational opportunities for paraprofessionals, thus helping them to provide improved services.

The IOTI continued to develop through the combined efforts of Center for Persons with Disabilities' former director Marvin Fifield, heads of state disability agencies, and leaders of consumer organizations. They worked over a several year period to secure adequate funds for this collaborative inservice effort and to develop the operating procedures described above.

FUNDING PROCESS

To encourage quality in the way that the state's training needs are addressed, the Steering Council solicits competitive proposals for training from any non-profit agency or organization in Utah. The process, which begins early in the calendar year, is:

The Request for Proposal is sent to a long list of agencies and individuals. It describes the areas of need in which projects will be funded. To apply for training grants, agencies or organizations send detailed letters of intent,describing how they propose to address a particular area of need. The RFP is issued each January.

The Steering Council reviews the letters of intent and the organizations that submitted the highest-rated letters are invited to submit full proposals.

After the Steering Council reviews the proposals, those with the greatest merit are funded.

Funded proposals must respond to the intention of the legislation that funds the IOTI. Proposals are expected to: (a) show evidence of collaboration across agencies and with consumers in planning and conducting training activities; (b) to accomplish specific short-term activities, especially to build the capacity for future personnel training or resolve a short term gap in training; (c) show evidence of the intent to secure funding from sources other than IOTI if long-term training efforts are needed; and (d) show evidence of the ability to respond quickly and well to the training need.

IOTI Steering COUNCIL MEMBERS

Martin Blair, Chair
Center for Persons with Disabilities

Mark Smith
Access Utah Network

Ginger West
Parent Advocate

Jennifer Smart
Office of Rehabilitation Services

Kris Fawson
Statewide Independent Living Council

Darren Hotton
Division of Aging and Adult Services

Holly Williams
Division of Community and Family Health Services

Thom Dunford
Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health

Melanie Austin
Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind

James Q. Jensen
TKJ

Bruce Schroeder
Utah Office of Education

Jennie Gibson
Utah Parent Center

Lori Giovannoni
Division of Services for People with Disabilities