Cultural Diversity Advisory Committee – Staff Transition Report from Dr. Gerrie Hawkins:
Tracking the Committee Work Impact for the National Council on Disability (2002 - 2007)

Since the National Council on Disability (NCD) welcomed the first cohort of Cultural Diversity Advisory Committee (CDAC) members in 2002, the agency has worked with new partners and benefited from committee efforts on behalf of people with disabilities from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. Equipped with a broad array of experiences and capabilities, CDAC members represent people from African American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and Hispanic American roots and who often are affected by prevalence and challenges at rates disproportionate to their U.S. Census numbers. This paper highlights internal support and external utilization of data that CDAC provided to NCD as perspectives and/or recommendations about unresolved issues and unmet needs of people with disabilities and families that CDAC members represent. Examples of internal work described below are available as the Government Printing Office posts documents at: www.ncd.gov

Internal accomplishments included actions wherein CDAC members:

• Made recommendations for actions on voting rights, election reform, health care, education, employment, financial incentives, and transportation needs of people from diverse cultures
• Served as panelists, event planners, facilitators (forums/roundtables), and RFP reviewers
• Developed fact sheets, priority issues information, action plans aligned with agency purpose
• Linked NCD with key people on Capitol Hill and federal agencies, non-government organizations and private industry, and
• Supported progress on process for work on NCD priorities with agency study teams

Evidence of external impact is shown in examples 3-20, wherein CDAC's work: 

• Responded to requests for consultation about diversity matters and relevant NCD materials for dissemination at national, state, tribal, local level conferences
• Contributed to a growing, yet still sparse knowledge base around outreach, self-determination, evidence-based promising practices, awareness-raising about cultural and linguistic competency, and empowerment for underserved and under represented people in public policy.  (Examples 1 and 2 pre-date establishment of CDAC and are included to reflect background of agency work pertaining to diversity matters.)

1. Bi-monthly Web-zine of International News and Views, Issue 3, June-July 2000 National Council on Disability Opens "Think Tank 2000" (May 2000) http://www.disabilityworld.org/June-July2000/International/ThinkTank.htm

2. In ERIC: Carrying on the Good Fight: Summary Paper from Think Tank 2000--Advancing the Civil & Human Rights of People with Disabilities from Diverse Cultures. http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_
&ERICExtSearch
_SearchValue_0=ED450516&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=eric_accno&accno=ED450516  
(August 2000)

3. Publication of the Week: Outreach and Review of Literature (2003) http://www.onestoptoolkit.org/Downloads%2FWebsite_and_Publication_for_12-12-2003.cfm

4. Analyzed in Outreach and people with disabilities from diverse cultures: a review of the literature. November 20, 2003 (J Med Library Assoc. 2005 July; 93(3) http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?
artid=1176229#i0025-7338-093-03-0327-b10

5. University of Arkansas Rehabilitation Research and Training Center for Persons who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing resources for the 2004 monograph, Circle of Unity: Pathways to Improving Outreach to American Indians & Alaska Natives who are Deaf, Deaf-Blind, and Hard of Hearing http://72.14.253.104/search?
q=cache:vTS98yPue_cJ:www.uark.edu/depts/rehabres/AmericanIndian/American%2520Indian%
2520Circle%2520of%2520Unity.pdf+intertribal+deaf+council+NCD&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us ;

6. Pre/post release consultation and dissemination in tribal communities (2002-2007); included in policy resolution) http://www.ncai.org/ncai/data/resolution/2002Annual/067.pdf ; Other citations: http://people.hofstra.edu/frank_g_bowe/Tribal.htm;
http://www.loc.gov/nls/networkdocs/native/focus03-03.html ; http://www.raconline.org/info_guides/tribal/ ; http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itsv/1106/ijse/aidtac.htm#1 ;

7. 2004 record breaking quarterly meeting attendance (n=120) with CDAC Council Liaison, other Council Members, tribal facilitators’  for public input and forum dialogue (attendance from New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, California areas (Disability Matters in Tribal Communities June 21, 2004); Article in Disability World: Reality is Mud http://www.disabilityworld.org/04-05_04/il/nativeamericanforum.shtml

8. Diversity resource list: Links to Disability and Civil Rights Organizations (June 2005) http://www.aapd-dc.org/News/disability/forumorgs.html

9. Outreach information (CDAC recommendations about gaps in knowledge and encouraging the agency’s work.) Promising Practices Brief: Bilingual Support. Vol.7, Issue 1 (2005) (http://www.ntac.hawaii.edu/downloads/products/briefs/promisingpractices/doc/PPBVol7_Issue1.doc)

 CDAC membership recruitment was included in widely publicized documents:
10. AAPD Disability News
     http://www.aapd-dc.org/News/disability/NCDadvsearch.htm
11. National Rehabilitation Government Affairs
     http://www.nationalrehab.org/website/govt/200354.html
12. Law, Health Policy & Disability Center, University of Iowa College of Law http://www.onestoptoolkit.org/Downloads%2FWebsite_and_Publication_for_02-10-2006.cfm

13. Outreach document information included in a national public health bibliography (June 19, 2006) http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/dh/minoritiesbiblio.htm

14.Cited: Advances in Conceptualization of Cultural Care and Cultural Competence in Nursing: An Initial Assessment Sage Publications 2006 http://hhc.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/18/5/386

15. Planned/facilitated dialogue among Council members and broader civil rights organization representatives: common concerns--education, employment, and civil rights across diverse cultures, poverty, and elders--NCD Quarterly meeting: January 2005 Minutes, Section II Report from Pre-Forum Dialogue and Section III CDAC Assistance with Forum Planning http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/advisory/cultural/2005/cultural_01-13-05.htm

16. Encouraged NCD, disability and broader civil rights organizations collaboration, included AAPD cooperative agreement and led to NCD’s new relationship with AARP (organization hosted the forum at Washington, DC facilities) – See Same Struggle, Different Difference (June 2005) http://www.aapd-dc.org/News/disability/civilrightsforum.html

17. CDAC recommendation for NCD’s action providing advice to Congress urging Voting Rights Act support and led to thank you letters (http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/news/2006/r06-510.htm)

18. Disability Awareness Month: Increasing Cultural awareness and Inclusion “The list includes one of the best comprehensive resources for this type of information relative to disability: the National Council on Disability’s Cultural Diversity Advisory Committee.” (Indiana Governor’s Planning Council for People with Disabilities). March 2007
http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:QLLQDtUxW0YJ:www.in.gov/gpcpd/pdf/14-CA.pdf+
%22Outreach+and+People+with+Disabilities+from+Diverse+Cultures:+A+
Review+of+the+Literature%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=9&gl=us

19. Inclusion in the National Association of States United for Action in Aging Information & Referral Support Center online outreach and multiculturalism http://www.nasua.org/informationandreferral/diversitychapter2.cfm#disability

20.Article: Advisory Committee at NCD Working to Enhance Cultural Diversity. American Association on Health and Disability. Fall 2006 Newsletter: URL accessed September 18, 2007
http://www.aahd.us/page.php?pname=publications/newsletters/2006/fall/inTheNews1&PHPSESSID=
0140616a84522e705dcda924237a6d30

Respectfully Submitted,
Gerrie Hawkins, Ph.D.
Designated Federal Official
Cultural Diversity Advisory Committee
July 2002 - September 2007