Cultural Diversity Advisory Committee Quarterly Meeting Report - July 2007
(Milton Aponte, J.D., Committee Liaison; Gerrie Hawkins, Ph.D., NCD Staff)

These highlights from the Cultural Diversity Advisory Committee (CDAC) report include a recap¹ of CDAC’s suggested issues/topics for agency planning, and an invitation to Council Members for upcoming CDAC meetings.

CDAC Suggestions for NCD’s Fiscal Year Planning (prior to/since the May and July 2007 meetings): 
Backdrop: For more than a decade NCD documented unmet needs and co-existing factors (e.g., limited system outreach, trust and poverty) that are grave within communities and across lives of many people with disabilities in underserved and/or underrepresented diverse racial and ethnic groups/subgroups. Often the prevalence of disability among African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, American Indians/Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders is higher disproportionately than their group representation in the overall national census.²

According to interim projections by the U.S. Census Bureau, by the year 2050, the country's population will become older³—with an increasing likelihood of disabilities—as people with diverse racial and ethnic heritage increase in number and percentage—representing about one-half of the total population and accounting for 90 percent of the overall U.S. population growth.⁴ Against this backdrop suggestions for NCD’s consideration during fiscal year planning support a key objective of the committee’s two-year plan⁵ and are aligned with agency efforts to establish priorities through fiscal year 2009.

Seven broad categories suggested by CDAC are as follows:

(1) Health Disparities [Prevention ○ Mental health parity ○ Accessibility ○ Health education]
(2) Housing
(3) Domestic violence
(4) Criminal justice system
(5) Emergency preparedness (e.g., deaf and hard of hearing community)
(6) Employment
(7) Awareness Raising/Community Education

Three Inclusion–specific Suggestions for NCD’s planning:

(1) Expand strategies for deliberate inclusion of groups CDAC represents across all agency work & activities.
(2) Address common as well as unique issues affecting the lives of people from diverse cultures.
(3) Require all contractors to submit proposals/plans with implementation strategies that incorporate evidence based information about and authentic perspectives gathered from the identified people with disabilities.

¹ This is a recap, since CDAC also introduced highlights at the January 2007 quarterly meeting.

²"Transcending The Barriers And Gaining Entry: A Culturally Competent2 Realm Of Community Integration For Americans With Disabilities"; http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/advisory/cultural/barriers_rev051800.htm

³ http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=March&x=20040318124311CMretroP0.4814264

⁴http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2006/rlangston_hob_script.html

⁵CDAC Two-Year Plan Objective 2:to increase support for NCD studies, projects, papers, related activities