2022 December News

teddi3Newsletter

Another Stride, Innovation & A United Voice 2023

Dear Members, Friends, and Collaborators of CIDA,

I am thrilled to look back at the year 2022! For CIDA, it has been another year of great stride and innovation, and we want to reflect on the many proud achievements that we made together as a community. These achievements were only possible thanks to your valuable involvement and the dedication of our amazing staff.

What We Achieved By The Numbers 2022

I first would like to highlight the successful launch of CoSpire, an innovative job program for young adults with developmental disabilities. This Social Cooperative Model program, which started in July this year after a pilot trial, includes job readiness training for 60 young adults, family training, and employer training for two years. This program will not only provide work opportunities for these young adults but also develop individualized career plans based on their talents and interests. CIDA was also active in advocating for special education policies and the rights of persons with disabilities from diverse backgrounds. CIDA presented the problems in the New York State Alternative Assessment (NYSAA) to the State Department of Education. In collaboration with the NYS Parent Center Network, we submitted the recommendations to the NYSED to improve the decision-making and parent informing processes of NYSAA (See here). In addition, CIDA launched and facilitated the NYC Coalition on Transition Services for Youth with I/DD, which is a platform to strengthen the transition planning and services for students with developmental disabilities. The Coalition also submitted a recommendation to the NYS OPWDD for policy changes in language access and transition services (See here). Within all of these, I am most proud that CIDA’s programs have been able to create a positive impact on the lives of countless families and young people with disabilities. This year alone, CIDA’s One-on-One Assistance made more than 760 contacts to assist parents and people with disabilities, and approximately 880 attendances were recorded in parent training, support groups, and youth class sessions. In addition, 25 important special education materials and workshop materials were translated into Korean or Chinese and delivered to families.

As of December 1, the number of parents, guardians, and disabled youth who joined the CIDA family network exceeded 860. We expect more Asian families to join our network in early 2023. This means that CIDA can have a stronger voice as a united front. Now we, CIDA families, are taking one step closer to our mission of creating an equal and inclusive society for all people with disabilities.

Thank you for your immense support and participation! I wish you all the best for the rest of the week, as well as a beautiful Christmas and a healthy New Year.

Sincerely,

Young Seh Bae, Executive Director

What’s Up at CIDA

Coming Soon! CoSpire Store

CoSpire, which started as CIDA’s employment program for young adults with disabilities, opened an online store and is currently selling holiday gift boxes and original arts. Following this, an offline store is scheduled to open in February 2023. At the CoSpire Store, art classes, cooking classes, and art sales are held, and young adults who have received job training at CIDA will work as store employees. 100% of the revenue from the store will be invested in the career development program at CIDA. The CoSpire store is located at 36-28 Bell BLVD, Bayside and currently under construction. Please visit and support our program!

Social Cooperative Project Cohort 2 Begins

Social Cooperative Project, CIDA’s job training program for young adults with disabilities, will start accepting applications for the 2nd round. The program and support are the same as in the first round. For more details, please visit https://cidainfo.com/workforce-development-programs/ for application information. For more program inquiries, please call 718-224-8197 Ext 3.

New Format of Support Group Meetings

2023 CIDA Parent Support Center’s Support Group will meet with parents with a new content and format. Korean parents of school age and infants and toddlers (0-18 years old) will meet in two different groups. The New York Group meetings (online/face-to-face) and national meetings (online) will meet every other month. While the national meetings will focus on special education progress monitoring, dispute resolution skills, and parental skills, the New York Group meeting will provide support on services, therapists and local programs information.

Support groups for parents of adult children over the age of 18 will be held online with the specified goals, such as solving service problems, preparing for independent living, and solving housing problems. The Long Island Support Group will meet in person every other month to discuss housing and group homes. For support meeting information and registration, please refer to the event news below.

Events

As we continue to recover from the COVID-19 Pandemic, all events are online. Please check our event calendar for event details and registration information.

  • Support Group (Age 0 – 18 yr)
    • where: Zoom
    • when: 12/6/2022 12:30PM EST
    • what: How to Resolve Conflicts Under Federal Law. Parents of infants, toddlers, and guardians/parents of school-age (K-12) children across the United States come together to share experiences in conflict resolutions with special education services or agencies.
    • who: Parents of School-age students with disabilities.
    • Register link
  • Support Group for Adults Parents
    • where: Zoom
    • when: 12/6/2022 12:30PM EST
    • what: Parent/Caregiver support group meeting to discuss issues in services: Parents and caregivers will share their experiences in various social services, how to avoid delays in job and housing applications.
    • who: Parents who have an adult child with a disability
    • Register link
  • High School Admission/for students with IEP
    • where: Zoom
    • when: 12/13/2022 12:00PM EST
    • what: NYC High School Admission Processes for Students with Disabilities. Advocate Jennifer Choi will share the NYC high school admission processes, what to look out for and how to make decisions. We highly recommend parents of middle school students of all levels to attend this presentation.
    • Speaker: Jennifer Choi, Advocate
    • Register link
  • Transition from EIP to CPSE (early intervention to Preschool Special education): NYS
    • where: Zoom
    • when: 12/20/2022 12:30PM EST
    • what: In this session, CIDA will provide the information regarding the process of moving from the Early Intervention Program (EIP) to the programs and services overseen by the school district’s Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE).
    • Speaker: Haewa Park & Young Seh Bae
    • Register link