Washington, DC – The Arc is pleased to announce it has been awarded a grant for $100,000 from the MetLife Foundation to make the programs, services and supports offered by chapters of The Arc nationwide more accessible to culturally diverse populations with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and their family members, and to ensure that the chapters are addressing the needs of the different cultures in their communities. To achieve these goals, The Arc will conduct a comprehensive assessment of the cultural competence within the network of 700 chapters.

This assessment will include substantial input from The Arc’s chapters as well as from current and potential stakeholders in ethnically and culturally diverse communities across the country. In the course of the assessment, The Arc will collect information about best practices in serving a culturally diverse population drawn from the disability field, as well as health care, social services and other non-profit and for-profit industry segments. As a result of the assessment, The Arc will develop a report that identifies the challenges developmental disability providers face when serving people with I/DD who come from diverse backgrounds and recommends solutions. Based on the report, The Arc will develop an action plan defining specific actions that can be taken by chapters of The Arc to achieve greater cultural competence.

“Organizations like the MetLife Foundation enable us to continue our work to promote inclusion and civil rights for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and with their generous support we will be able to better serve communities across the country. The Arc has a network of 700 chapters and those chapters represent a spectrum of cultural diversity. We recognize that for The Arc to be successful, we must find ways to support our organization’s growth to include more diverse populations,” said Peter Berns, CEO of The Arc.