Institute on Community Integration

Public Health: Good data = stronger systems. ICI's MN-ADDM program tracks autism trends in Minnesota. To learn more, please visit addm.umn.edu

On June 22, join ICI’s Minnesota Transformation Initiative’s quarterly virtual training on how Minnesota providers support Community Life Engagement in Action—a project that shares research, resources, and promising practices that support community inclusion and partnership for people with disabilities. Project partners (the University of New Hampshire's Institute on Disability, the Institute for Community Inclusion at UMass Boston, and ANCOR American Network of Community Options and Resources) will provide an overview of the CLE toolkit and the components of CLE in Action. This event was rescheduled from last month. Register at https://z.umn.edu/bagm

The latest issue of Impact highlights the benefits of inclusive sports when everyone is allowed to play. Sports have always been a unifier. It promotes confidence, empowers athletes, builds lifelong friendships, and helps improve health.

Impact Explores Inclusive Sports Institute on Community Integration

“I’ve been a direct support professional for a long time, but I didn’t start out thinking of myself as an advocate,” DSP Nick Smith writes in Frontline Initiative (jointly published by ICI and the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals - NADSP).

Thirtieth Anniversary Issue on Progress and Priorities in Direct Support | Volume 22, Number 1 | Advocacy Matters Thirtieth Anniversary Issue on Progress and Priorities in Direct Support Advocacy MattersAuthorsNick Smith, DSP-II, NADD-DSP , is a direct support professional at SPIN in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Nick can be reached at [email protected] Lutts , M.Ed., is the Division Director of Workforc...

Impact explores inclusive sports. MNLEND fellows celebrate their accomplishments. National self-direction conference highlights a growing movement. A MNLEND fellow helps connect children to early interventions. Get the latest from ICI in the new FYI newsletter. https://z.umn.edu/FYI-June-2026

To subscribe to FYI, visit https://ici.umn.edu/welcome/subscribe

Help shape the future of direct support training. For more than 20 years, ICI’s College of Direct Support (CDS) has provided competency-based training to help direct support professionals support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in living full, inclusive lives. Grounded in real experience and community input, CDS is now updating this training and invites community members to co-create new content throughout 2026–27. For details, contact [email protected]

Eileen Klemm recently retired as director of ICI’s Check & Connect Student Engagement Intervention. She started at ICI in 2012, and under her leadership, the student engagement program has grown to serve educators and students throughout the United States and internationally. Michelle Austin is the new director of Check & Connect. https://z.umn.edu/bbh9

Brian wanted a community job. Plain and simple. He wanted to feel like he had control over his own life. “I met Brian when he had expressed interest in finding community employment,” Amber Kram writes in Frontline Initiative (jointly published by ICI and the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals - NADSP). “That is when I learned he had been told he was deemed ‘unemployable,’ yet he still wanted to look for a job.”

Thirtieth Anniversary Issue on Progress and Priorities in Direct Support | Volume 22, Number 1 | From Exclusion to Inclusion, The 31-year Journey to Competitive Employment Thirtieth Anniversary Issue on Progress and Priorities in Direct Support From Exclusion to Inclusion, The 31-year Journey to Competitive EmploymentAuthorAmber Kram is a Credentialed Employment Support Professional (CESP) at PHASE-Industries Incorporated in Mora, Minnesota. Amber can be reached at ak...

Tomorrow, join us virtually for the 2nd Annual Great Minnesota Regional Positive Support Get-Together! We have a full-day program planned, with breakout sessions on systems, practice, and some advanced topics. The conference is free, but registration is required at https://z.umn.edu/bcq8

DSPs Geeter Lowe (right) and Angie Cobble have had front-row seats, supporting people in realizing their potential through decades of change. “Every day was very structured and followed a specific schedule,” recalls Susan Arwood (National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals - NADSP) in Frontline Initiative. “Things rarely changed. Today, the old structure is gone. The work is driven by the person supported.”

Thirtieth Anniversary Issue on Progress and Priorities in Direct Support | Volume 22, Number 1 | Behind the Support A Direct Supports Professionals Perpective over the Past 30 Years Thirtieth Anniversary Issue on Progress and Priorities in Direct Support Behind the Support A Direct Supports Professionals Perpective over the Past 30 YearsShare this pageShare this page on Facebook.Share this page on LinkedIn.Share this page on Pinterest.Share this page via email.Print this page.M...