The American Indian Disability Technical Assistance Center (AIDTAC) was inaugurated in October 2000 with an initial five-year grant by the U.S. Department of Education’s Rehabilitation Services Administration, as a national center to provide information, training, and technical assistance to vocational rehabilitation and employment-related services assisting American Indians and Alaska Natives with disabilities. The work has expanded to include Native Hawaiians.  In conjunction with other programs at the Rural Institute of The University of Montana, AIDTAC addressed issues of employment, transportation, health, independent living, voter participation, and education. Funding was discontinued in 2008, but some of the materials developed by AIDTAC can still be found on the Technical Assistance on Native American Culture project (TANAC) website. TANAC was funded by the Social Security Administration (SSA). Other materials may be found on the Research and Training Center on Disability in Rural Communities (RTC) website.

AIDTAC formerly provided training and technical assistance through teleconferences and supporting materials, publication of a wide range of materials in a variety of formats, information transmitted via listservs, curriculum development, and regular updates to our websites.  AIDTAC collaborates with other individuals and organizations to conduct training. Audiences served include individuals, Work Incentive Planning Assistance (WIPA) projects, P&A projects, tribal governments, tribal and state vocational rehabilitation agencies, employers and employer representatives, urban Indian centers, and others.

Some AIDTAC publications are still available at the Research and Training Center on Disability in Rural Communities (RTC) website.

Site updated April 24, 2009
The University of Montana Rural Institute: 
Center for Excellence in Disability Education, Research and Services
52 Corbin Hall, The University of Montana
Missoula, MT 59812-7056    

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