Impact Feature Issue on Paraeducators Supporting Students with Disabilities and At-Risk

The Institute for Community Inclusion, a University Center of Excellence at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, is partnering with the American Association of University Affiliated Programs and the Corporation for National Service to operate the National Service Inclusion Project. The project, which began this fall, will implement a comprehensive program of training, technical assistance, and dissemination designed to increase the participation of individuals with disabilities in national service programs, including AmeriCorps, Learn and Serve America, and National Senior Service Corps. To assist these programs in carrying out their commitment to inclusion, the project will develop and implement the following:

• Regional, state, and program-specific training and technical assistance. 
• Ongoing needs and preference surveys to ensure applicable and meaningful training and technical assistance.
• A “one stop” interactive Web site. 
• Strategies to develop state and local partnerships between Corporation for National Service grantees and the disability community, particularly the University Centers of Excellence.
• Information dissemination focusing on the opportunities for individuals with disabilities in national service.
• A national conference on inclusion in national service.