CDD funds two projects with the NYS Unified Courts System
The New York State Council on Developmental Disabilities (CDD) is pleased to announce two projects with the NYS Unified Courts System (USC).
The first is a grant award of $300,000 for three years to the NYS Unified Courts System (USC) to provide conflict management training and circles of support to care managers who play critical roles in supporting people with Developmental Disabilities (DD) and their families.
This program will help advance professional development and workforce sustainability among Care Coordinating Organizations (CCOs) and OPWDD Regional Office staff across New York State. This will develop relationships with Community Dispute Resolution Centers (CDRCs) for case referrals and other services. This initiative will expand conflict resolution capacity, peer support and structured referral pathways between CCOs, OPWDD, and CDRCs to better serve people with DD and their families efficiently.
The Conflict Management Skills Training for Case managers will deliver targeted conflict management and communication skills training aimed at addressing real situations encountered by CCO case managers and OPWDD regional staff. This will be coordinated through the New York State Dispute Resolution Association (NYSDRA) by the CDRCs. CCO and OPWDD supervisors will also receive specialized training in mediation. This will support staff in resolving challenging interactions with colleagues, clients, service providers and families.
In addition, facilitated peer circles will be created to provide structured reflection, mutual problem-solving, emotional support and professional connections to reduce isolation, stress and turnover. The project will strengthen consistent referral pathways for appropriate case mediation to increase timely conflict resolution from CDRCs.
The second is a grant award of $450,000 for three years to the New York State Unified Court System’s Office for Justice Initiatives (OJI) in partnership with the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) to improve the capacity of the NY Court Systems to better serve people with Developmental Disabilities (DD).
This project will improve the capacity of the NY court systems by empowering family court judges, court attorneys, court officers, court clerks, and probation officers through a pilot training series. By participating in these training courses, court personnel will gain valuable knowledge on how to understand and serve people with DD and the community.
This program will help assess the gaps and needs for people with DD interacting with court systems. The training for court personnel will also increase the knowledge on the needs and best practices for people with DD. In addition, the training will be conducted in each of the four judicial parts in New York State. Kings’ county in Brooklyn, New York County in Manhattan, Albany County and Monroe County in Rochester. The program will also be updated and improved based on the pilot experience and there will be a compilation of a final sustainability plan for CDD. This will include the identification of specific strategies that will sustain the program beyond the life of the grant.
The CDD is proud to be working with the NYS Unified courts System to improve the lives of people with DD across the state and beyond.
