THE ARC | 2010 ANNUAL REPORT


Research and Innovation – Investing in The Arc’s Future Organizations that thrive do so because they invest in the


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future. The Arc’s new Research and Innovations Department is just one more example of how The Arc is thinking ahead, acting strategically, and positioning our organization to be on the cut- ting edge of thought leadership, advocacy, and service delivery in intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). Implemented in May of 2010, and led by Dr. Ann Cameron Caldwell, Ph.D., the Research and Innovations Department aims to increase the scope and depth of The Arc’s impact through developing new, innovative programs and expanding philan- thropic engagement in our mission and goals. Efforts are fo- cused on building organizational capacity and systems change initiatives in ways that are thoughtfully aligned with the stra- tegic framework and self-determination principles. Much of the work that takes place in Research and Innova-


tions is honest-to-goodness thinking, development of visionary concepts, infusing research and best practices into program de- signs, and working on generating new and strengthening ex- isting collaborative relationships with other organizations that


are aligned with our mission and core values. For instance, we identified the need to understand the current state of families, across disabilities and across the lifespan, in response to threat- ening economic times. As a result, in 2010, Research and Inno- vations led the effort to design and implement the Families and Individual Needs for Disability Support (FINDS) survey – and more than 5,000 people participated in this incisive national online survey that tapped families and people with disabilities perspectives on life-span issues and experiences. This was an- other marker of The Arc’s strong and innovative leadership in acting decisively to advance understanding about I/DD. And when an opportunity to apply to be a national resource to families connected to autism and other developmental disabili- ties presented itself, The Arc put its best foot forward, knowing that we are the largest provider of advocacy, services, and sup- ports to people with autism and their families – and that we had sixty years of significant experience, knowledge, and connection to families to offer our nation.


In September 2010, The Arc received notification from the Administration on Developmental Disabilities that it had been selected to carry out the Autism NOW: National Autism Resource and Information Center, at a $1.87 million level in the first of four years of the grant.


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