DEPARTMENT 

of HEALTH 

and HUMAN 

SERVICES 

National Institute on Disability, 

Independent Living, and Rehabilitation 

Research (NIDILRR) 

2020 Report to Congress

Prepared by

ADMINISTRATION FOR 

COMMUNITY LIVING
2 

Table of Contents

Table of Contents...................................................................................................................... 2

Acronyms.................................................................................................................................. 3

Executive Summary................................................................................................................... 4

Funding and Grants Management......................................................................................... 4

Productivity and Accomplishments....................................................................................... 4

Research Capacity Building ................................................................................................... 6

Training and Technical Assistance on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).................. 6

Knowledge Translation.......................................................................................................... 6

Ongoing NIDILRR Activities.................................................................................................... 6

Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 7

Grant Competitions – Year in Review........................................................................................ 9

Grant Competition and Peer Review Process........................................................................ 9

Grant Competitions............................................................................................................... 9

Monitoring and Oversight...................................................................................................10

Funding Overview ...............................................................................................................11

Grantee Activities and Progress..........................................................................................13

Sampling of Key Accomplishments by NIDILRR-Funded Researchers..................................14

ADA National Network ........................................................................................................20

Research Fellowship Program (Mary E. Switzer Fellowship Program)................................. 22

Ongoing NIDILRR Activities..................................................................................................22
3 

Acronyms

ADA Americans with Disabilities Act 

APR Annual Performance Reporting System

ARRT Advanced Rehabilitation Research Training Project 

CL&P Community Living and Participation

DoC Disorders of Consciousness

DRRP Disability and Rehabilitation Research Project

EMP Employment

FIP Field-Initiated Project 

FY Fiscal Year

H&F Health and Function 

HCBS Home and Community-Based Services

HHS Department of Health and Human Services 

KT Knowledge Translation 

KTER Knowledge Translation for Employment Research

LV Low Vision

MM Mobility and Manipulation

MSI Minority-Serving Institution 

NIDILRR National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and 

Rehabilitation Research

PAT Physical Access and Transportation

POL Policy

RERC Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center

RRTC Rehabilitation Research and Training Center

SBIR Small Business Innovation Research 

SMI Serious Mental Illness

STI Strategies, Techniques, and Interventions

TBI Traumatic Brain Injury 

TBIMS Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems

TBI-QOL Traumatic Brain Injury – Quality of Life
4 

Executive Summary

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014 transferred the National 

Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research to the Administration for 

Community Living from the U.S. Department of Education. With this move, NIDILRR’s mission 

remained unchanged -- to generate new knowledge and to promote its effective use to improve 

the abilities of individuals with disabilities to perform activities of their choice in the community

as well as to expand society’s capacity to provide full opportunities and accommodations for 

individuals with disabilities. As the primary research enterprise within ACL, NIDILRR’s mission is 

highly complementary to the overarching mission of ACL — to maximize the independence, 

well-being, and health of older adults, people with disabilities across the lifespan, and their 

families and caregivers. 

NIDILRR programs address a wide range of disabilities and impairments across all age groups

and promote health and function, community living and participation, and employment. To 

accomplish these goals, NIDILRR invests in research, knowledge translation, and capacitybuilding activities through its discretionary grant-funding mechanisms.

Funding and Grants Management

The allocation of NIDILRR grant funds for fiscal year (FY) 2020 totaled $107,889,224. In addition, 

NIDILRR awarded $4,862,027 in contracts and other support activities in FY 2020. These funds 

supported 220 grant awards in 2020. 

NIDILRR’s peer review process for grant competitions is highly rigorous, with 15.7 percent of 

applicants receiving new grant funding during FY 2020 (see Table 1). 

Productivity and Accomplishments

NIDILRR funds research toward the development of new knowledge and innovative 

technological devices, prototypes, measurement tools, interventions, and other informational 

products to enhance community living, health and function, and employment among people 

with disabilities. Grantees employ advanced methodologies to conduct research, including 

randomized controlled trials, longitudinal studies, and qualitative studies. These investments 

produce peer-reviewed publications, intervention protocols, software, databases, and a wide 

range of other outputs and outcomes. Selected examples of NIDILRR grantee accomplishments 

in FY 2020 include: 

CAREGIVING AND COVID-19 REPORT 

To better understand how the COVID-19 pandemic was affecting family caregivers, the 

Rehabilitation Research and Training Center for People with Disabilities Across the Life Course
5 

conducted a community-wide survey of both caregivers and non-caregivers. Their study found 

that family caregivers reported more negative effects from the pandemic than non-caregivers

and were more likely to experience social isolation, food insecurity, and financial hardship, 

among other issues. Family caregivers also reported that the pandemic had increased their 

caregiving responsibilities and that providing care was more physically, and emotionally 

difficult. A description and discussion of this report can be found in the Sampling of Key 

Accomplishments by NIDILRR-Funded Researchers section of this report.

PUBLICATION ON ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY ACCESS AND USAGE BARRIERS AMONG AFRICAN 

AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES

The Langston University Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Research and CapacityBuilding for Minority Entities published an article in the Journal of Applied Rehabilitation 

Counseling about the literature on assistive technology access and usage barriers among 

African Americans with disabilities. This article discusses access and usage disparities and their 

impact on employment for African Americans with disabilities. The Center calls for bridging the 

digital divide through public policy reform, digital literacy awareness, and enhanced capacitybuilding within vocational rehabilitation and assistive technology service delivery. This article 

urges vocational rehabilitation counselors in education and practice to examine ways to 

increase assistive technology access and bridge usage gaps for African Americans with 

disabilities in public policy, vocational rehabilitation service delivery, and institutional 

infrastructure systems. The article can be accessed here. 

RESEARCH-BASED PUBLICATIONS USED BY STATE AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES TO IMPROVE 

COMMUNITY LIVING FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

A peer-reviewed publication from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Participation Action 

Research Consortium: Advancing Participation Equity for People with Disabilities, Satisfaction, 

Safety, and Supports: Comparing People with Disabilities’ Insider Experiences about 

Participation in Institutional and Community Living, was used by the State of Illinois Department 

of Human Services to evaluate whether their disability services and delivery systems complied 

with the Supreme Court’s decision in Olmstead v. L.C. requiring states to provide services in the 

most integrated setting and to propose a new system using the methodology in the publication. 

This publication was also used by the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus of Illinois, which represents 

more than 250 mayors in Illinois, as part of a targeted series of community forums done with 

their policy stakeholders. In addition, transit maps and updated transit regional maps are

research-based informational products that were used by the Metropolitan Transit Authority of 

Harris County (Houston, TX) to focus on improving sidewalks around the transit stops that serve 

people with disabilities. These maps showed where people with disabilities lived as well as the 

transportation lines and common resources or services that they used.
6 

Research Capacity-Building 

Research capacity-building efforts under the Advanced Rehabilitation Research Training 

Projects, Switzer Fellowship Program, and NIDILRR’s Center grant programs develop a diverse 

cadre of emerging disability and rehabilitation researchers. In addition, NIDILRR directs targeted 

resources to minority-serving institutions, such as historically black colleges and universities 

and tribal colleges and universities, to develop and implement programs to build disability and 

rehabilitation research capacity.

Training and Technical Assistance on the Americans with Disabilities Act

NIDILRR sponsors the ADA National Network, which delivers training, technical assistance, and 

dissemination of materials for stakeholders with rights and responsibilities under the ADA. The 

ADA Participation Action Research Consortium complements the Network’s activities through 

research on factors influencing the community living of individuals with disabilities at state, 

regional, and community levels.

Knowledge Translation

NIDILRR is committed to ensuring that the products of its sponsored research and development 

are used to promote the independent living, health and function, employment, and community 

living outcomes of individuals with disabilities. Through its Knowledge Translation Centers and 

discrete knowledge translation projects, NIDILRR ensures that new knowledge and products 

gained through research and development are effectively communicated to stakeholders. 

Ongoing NIDILRR Activities 

NIDILRR continues to focus its efforts on the implementation and integration of the vision as 

defined by the NIDILRR Director and the statutory missions of NIDILRR and the Administration 

for Community Living more broadly. The NIDILRR FY 2018–2023 Long-Range Plan, which was

published in March 2019, outlines the organizational and programmatic vision, and will frame 

NIDILRR’s research agenda for the coming years.

Strategic partnerships and collaboration have been instrumental in advancing NIDILRR’s 

mission. As such, NIDILRR will continue to leverage existing partnerships and seek out new 

opportunities to engage stakeholders within and outside of the Federal disability and 

rehabilitation research communities. NIDILRR’s Director is the delegated Chair of the 

Interagency Committee on Disability Research (ICDR). The ICDR continues to build on its 

ongoing work toward the achievement of goals and objectives set forth in the governmentwide disability and rehabilitation research strategic plan. 
7

2020 Report to Congress

Introduction

The National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) 

is committed to improving independent living and community participation among people with 

disabilities by funding research and development in the areas of community living and 

participation, health and function, and employment. This Annual Report to Congress will 

describe NIDILRR’s activities and accomplishments during fiscal year (FY) 2020. It begins with a 

summary of the organization’s historical foundation, provides a description of its funding 

process and fiscal allocations, and follows with descriptions of programmatic outcomes 

impacting the community. This report concludes by describing ongoing initiatives and directions 

within the organization.

NIDILRR was established by Congress to conduct research that would lead to improved health 

and function, employment, and community living outcomes of individuals with disabilities. First 

constituted as the National Institute on Handicapped Research by the Rehabilitation, 

Comprehensive Services, and Developmental Disabilities Amendments of 1978 (P.L. 95–602), 

amending the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the organization was originally housed in the 

Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and later the Department of Education. The 

1986 amendments to the Rehabilitation Act changed the agency’s name to the National 

Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. On July 22, 2014, the agency was renamed 

the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research and 

transferred from the Department of Education to the Administration for Community Living 

within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This change occurred with the 

passage of P.L. 113–128, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. NIDILRR personnel 

officially became HHS/Administration for Community Living employees on February 8, 2015.

NIDILRR'S mission is to generate new knowledge and promote its effective use to improve the 

abilities of individuals with disabilities to perform activities of their choice in the community as 

well as to expand society’s capacity to provide full opportunities and accommodations for 

individuals with disabilities. To accomplish this mission, NIDILRR:

• Supports research, development, training, technical assistance, and related activities to 

build new knowledge.

• Promotes the transfer, use, and adoption of technology for individuals with disabilities 

to improve health and function, employment, and independent community living and 

participation outcomes.
8

• Provides for research training to increase the number of qualified researchers, including 

researchers with disabilities and from minority backgrounds.

• Fosters widespread dissemination and use of scientific and technological information to 

advance policy, practice, and services that improve outcomes for people with 

disabilities.

NIDILRR programs address community living and participation, health and function, and 

employment outcomes of people with disabilities. NIDILRR’s investments in research, 

development, knowledge translation, and capacity-building activities are carried out through 

the following discretionary grant-funding mechanisms:

• Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers (RRTC) conduct advanced research and 

training on a wide variety of health, rehabilitation, employment, and community living 

topics.

• Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERC) conduct rehabilitation engineering 

research and development toward technological solutions to rehabilitation problems or 

environmental barriers.

• Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects (DRRP) conduct research, development, 

technical assistance, training, and utilization activities on health, rehabilitation, 

employment, and community living topics.

• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) National Network projects conduct research and 

provide information, training, and technical assistance to ADA stakeholders.

• Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) projects support small businesses to explore 

feasibility and develop or evaluate the commercialization potential of new technology 

products for people with disabilities.

• Knowledge Translation (KT) projects promote the use of research-based knowledge in 

NIDILRR’s community of stakeholders.

• Field-Initiated Projects (FIP) conduct 3-year studies on topics proposed by applicants to 

address disability and rehabilitation issues in promising and innovative ways.

• Model Systems programs in spinal cord injury (SCI), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and 

burn injury (BI) conduct research on rehabilitation and long-term outcomes of

individuals with these conditions. Research in these programs includes collaborative, 

multisite research and collection and analysis of longitudinal data.

• Advanced Rehabilitation Research Training Projects (ARRT) support institutions of 

higher education to provide advanced interdisciplinary research training to postdoctoral 

Fellows.

• Research Fellowship Programs, or Mary E. Switzer Fellowships, are awarded to 

qualified individuals to conduct 1-year independent research projects.

• Section 21 projects focus on research capacity-building for minority-serving institutions, 

including historically black colleges and universities and other institutions with 
9 

significant racial/ethnic minority student populations. Section 21 of the Rehabilitation 

Act requires that 1 percent of NIDILRR appropriations be invested to address 

traditionally underserved populations.

Grant Competitions – Year in Review

Grant Competition and Peer Review Process

NIDILRR sponsors disability and rehabilitation research and development in the outcome 

domains of community living and participation, health and function, and employment. Funding 

is provided to the research community through its funding mechanisms, with priorities within 

these mechanisms determined by the agency. NIDILRR utilizes a rigorous peer review process, 

as required by federal regulation, and internal and external program evaluation to ensure the 

quality of its sponsored research and development activities. Subject matter experts with the 

appropriate credentials and content knowledge evaluate the scientific, technical, and 

management aspects of proposals submitted in response to NIDILRR funding opportunity 

announcements. This process generates an average score across reviewers, reducing bias and

facilitating the ranking of projects by scientific merit. Only the highest-ranking proposals are 

recommended for NIDILRR funding. 

Grant Competitions

Table 1 describes NIDILRR’s FY 2020 grant competitions. The number of eligible applicants, 

review panels, reviewers, awards made, and percentage of applicants receiving funding are 

shown. A large percentage of applications receive high peer review scores that indicate strong 

technical merit and significant need. NIDILRR’s limited resources allow only a small percentage 

of these applicants to receive grants each year.

Table 1. NIDILRR Peer Review Process Overview, FY 2020

Grant Opportunity

# Eligible 

Applicants

# 

Panels

# 

Reviewers

# 

Awards 

Made

% Applicants 

Receiving 

Funding

ARRT - H&F 12 1 5 1 8%

ARRT - CL&P 3 1 5 for all ARRT1 33%

ARRT - EMP 5 1 5 for all ARRT1 20%

ARRT - POL 3 1 5 1 33%

SBIR - Phase 1 17 2 10 9 53%

SBIR - Phase 2 15 2 10 4 27%

Switzer 39 4 20 8 21%

FIP 146 15 60 17 12%

FIP - MSI 9 1 5 1 11%

- - - - -

Field-Initiated DRRP in CL&P 35 4 19 3 9%
10 

Grant Opportunity

# Eligible 

Applicants

# 

Panels

# 

Reviewers

# 

Awards 

Made

% Applicants 

Receiving 

Funding

Field-Initiated DRRP in H&F 26 3 14 3 12%

DRRP - AT 43 5 24 4 9.3%

DRRP - KT 16 2 10 3 19%

DRRP - TBI 4 1 5 1 25%

DRRP - HCP 7 1 5 1 14%

DRRP - KTER 2 1 5 1 50%

DRRP - Pressure Injury 12 1 5 1 8%

DRRP - Expressive Com. 8 1 5 1 13%

- - - - - -

RERC - STI 7 1 5 1 14%

RERC - MM 7 1 5 1 14%

RERC - PAT 5 1 5 1 20%

- - - - - -

RRTC - Employment POL 2 1 5 1 50%

RRTC - H&F SMI 4 1 5 1 25%

RRTC - Blind LV 4 1 5 1 25%

RRTC - HCBS 2 1 5 1 50%

TOTAL: 433 54 242 68 15.7%

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Community Living, National Institute on 

Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. These figures do not include FY 2020 awards made 

from 2019 slates. 

Monitoring and Oversight 

NIDILRR uses its Annual Performance Reporting (APR) System, formative review mechanisms, 

and close monitoring of grant activities by NIDILRR staff to provide rigorous oversight of its 

funded initiatives. NIDILRR’s APR is a web-based grants performance system grantees use to 

provide data about goals and objectives, staffing, budget, research and development methods, 

progress, outputs, and accomplishments. Data are used to determine whether continuation 

funding should be provided to a grantee. For a new grantee, the first reporting period begins on 

the start date of the award and extends until May 31 of the following year. Subsequent 

reporting periods begin June 1 and end May 31. Grantees submit their progress reports 

annually on July 1.

Formative evaluations of funded awards are used as supplemental oversight and technical 

assistance tools for grantees. Such reviews are conducted when NIDILRR program officers 

believe that a grantee could benefit from targeted technical assistance in addition to that 

available from the program officer. A panel of subject matter experts is chosen to provide the 

technical assistance and make recommendations for improvement if needed. 
11 

NIDILRR staff, as experienced program administrators and researchers, are highly adept at 

maintaining ongoing, routine communication with and oversight of grantees to help inform 

their scientific programs and ensure that they are meeting goals and objectives. Program 

officers use the HHS Grants Policy Administration Manual to provide consistent oversight across 

projects. Risk assessments are conducted to locate poor-performing grantees, with additional 

oversight and technical support provided as needed. Though rare, findings of ongoing poor 

performance can lead to a discontinuation of funding to a grantee.

Funding Overview

The allocation of NIDILRR FY 2020 grant funds for the 11 funding mechanisms discussed above

is shown in Table 2. For each funding mechanism, the table includes the number of new and 

continuation awards. NIDILRR’s overall grant allocations across all 11 funding mechanisms 

totaled $107,889,224 for FY 2020. NIDILRR awarded $4,862,027 in contracts and other support 

activities for FY 2020. 

Table 2. NIDILRR-Funded Centers and Projects: Funding and Awards, FY 2020

NIDILRR-Funded Centers & Projects FY 2020 Grant Amount

Funding 

Mechanism (NIDILRR-Funded Centers and Projects)

Award Type (NIDILRR-Funded Centers and Projects)# of Awards FY 2020Total FY 2020In 

Thousands 

of $ Grant Amount

Total Grant amount

RRTC Continuations 17 22 19,246 19,246

RRTC New Awards 5 22 4,372 19,246

RERC Continuations 14 17 12,2888 15,662

RERC New Awards 3 17 2,774 15,662

DRRP Continuations 27 42 14,184 21,625

DRRP New Awards 15 42 7,442 21,625

ADA Network Continuations 12 12 12,424 12,424

ADA Network New Awards 0 12 0 12,424

SBIR Continuations 4 17 1,182 3,283

SBIR New Awards 13 17 2,101 3,283

KT Continuations 6 10 3,060 4,160

KT New Awards 4 10 1,100 4,160

FIP Continuations 0 18 6,392 9,791

FIP New Awards 18 18 3,399 9,791

Model Systems - - - -

Spinal Cord Continuations 15 15 7,400 7,400

 Injury New Awards 0 15 0 7,400

TBI Continuations 18 18 8,462 8,462

TBI New Awards 0 18 0 8,462

Burn Continuations 5 5 1,850 1,850
12 

Funding 

Mechanism (NIDILRR-Funded Centers and Projects)

Award Type (NIDILRR-Funded Centers and Projects)# of Awards FY 2020Total FY 2020In 

Thousands 

of $ Grant Amount

Total Grant amount

Burn New Awards 0 5 0 1,850

ARRT Continuations 15 20 2,247 3,196

AART New Awards 5 20 950 3,196

Switzer 

Fellowships

New Awards 

(1-year grants)

8 8 590 590

Section 21 Continuations 0 1 0 200

Section 21 New Awards 1 1 200 200

Total 238 107,889

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Community Living, National Institute on 

Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. 

Exhibits 1 and 2 illustrate the distribution of funded research and development grant projects in 

FY 2020 across NIDILRR’s three outcome domains: health and function, community living and 

participation, and employment. “Cross-cutting” is a composite category used in the Annual 

Performance Report to describe projects that reflect two or more domains. Roughly 46 percent 

of development projects and about 29 percent of research projects were described as crosscutting. “Research projects” are defined by NIDILRR as “an intensive systematic study, based on 

a clear hypothesis or research question that is directed toward producing new scientific 

knowledge about the subject or problem being studied.” “Development projects” are defined 

as “the use of knowledge and understanding gained from research to create materials, devices, 

systems, or methods beneficial to the target population, including design and development of 

prototypes and processes.” 

Exhibit 1. Research Grant Projects by Domain, FY 2020

Health and function 32%

Employment 20%

Participation and 

community living 19%

Cross-cutting (two or 

more domains) 29%

RESEARCH PROJECTS
13 

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Community Living, National Institute on 

Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. 2020 Annual Performance Reports. “Program 

Performance Report Table 9.” 

Exhibit 2. Development Grant Projects by Domain, FY 2020

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Community Living, National Institute on 

Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. 2020 Annual Performance Reports. “Program 

Performance Report Table 11.” 

Grantee Activities and Progress

NIDILRR collects output data through the APR. Grantees are required to report each output 

from their funded activities in one of four categories: publications; tools, measures, and 

intervention protocols; technology products and devices; and informational products. A brief 

description of each category of output type follows:

• Publications are documents directly funded by a grantee’s current NIDILRR award. 

Publications include journal articles, periodicals, web journals, proceedings from 

meetings and symposia, books or book chapters, monographs, abstracts, technical or 

research reports, and reviews. Within this output category are peer-reviewed and nonpeer-reviewed publications. 

• Tools, measures, and intervention protocols include instruments or processes created 

to acquire quantitative or qualitative information, knowledge, or data on a specific 

disability or rehabilitation issue as well as research-based protocols for delivering 

interventions to specific target populations of people with disabilities. 

• Technology products and devices are developed, modified, tested, or evaluated by the 

grantee. This category refers to any technology product or device developed under the 

Health and function 21%

Employment 13%

Participation and 

community living 20%

Cross-cutting (two or more 

domains) 46%

DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
14 

award that the grantee disseminated or delivered to external audiences during the 

current reporting period. 

• Information products refer to items such as training manuals/curricula, fact sheets, 

newsletters, audiovisual materials, marketing tools, educational aids, websites, 

presentations, and other forms of disseminated information. 

Exhibit 3 compares the number of output products produced by grantees within each category 

type in FY 2020. Additional detail has been provided for the category of publications, with peerreviewed and non-peer-reviewed publications being reported separately. 

Exhibit 3. Total Outputs Produced by All Grantees across All Program Mechanisms, by Product 

Type, FY 2020

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Community Living, National Institute on 

Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. 2020 Annual Performance Reports. “Program 

Performance Report Tables 18–22.” 

Data obtained through the 2020 APR show that NIDILRR supported 220 grantees during FY 

2020, totaling $107,889,224 across all program mechanisms. These projects reflect the breadth 

of disability and rehabilitation research within the agency’s outcome domains of community 

living and participation, health and function, and employment. The knowledge and products 

that are generated by NIDILRR-sponsored research and development grants have a wide variety 

of important impacts in the field. The summaries that follow provide examples of the outcomes 

and impacts that resulted from NIDILRR’s investments. Additional information concerning these 

projects is available through the National Rehabilitation Information Center website 

(http://www.naric.com/). 

Sampling of Key Accomplishments by NIDILRR-Funded Researchers

NIDILRR-funded researchers conduct myriad coordinated, integrated, and advanced programs 

of research, training, and information dissemination in content areas that are primarily 

455

176

168

69

50

0 200 400 600

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Information Products (e.g., curricula, websites)

Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications

Tools, Measures, and Intervention Protocols

Technology Products and Devices
15 

specified by NIDILRR. Areas of focus include the improvement of rehabilitation methodology 

and service delivery systems; the improvement of health and functioning; and the promotion of

employment, independent living, family support, and economic and social self-sufficiency for 

individuals with disabilities. NIDILRR-funded training and capacity-building RRTCs provide 

training — including graduate, pre-service, and in-service training — to build capacity for 

disability and rehabilitation research. They also serve as centers of national excellence in 

rehabilitation research. Awards are normally made for a 5-year period.

The following are examples of accomplishments reported to NIDILRR grantees in FY 2020:

Research-Based Publications Used by State and Local Authorities to Improve Community 

Living for People with Disabilities (Grant # 90DPAD0001) 

A peer-reviewed publication from the ADA Participation Action Research Consortium: 

Advancing Participation Equity for People with Disabilities, Satisfaction, Safety, and Supports: 

Comparing People with Disabilities’ Insider Experiences about Participation in Institutional and 

Community Living, was used by the State of Illinois Department of Human Services to evaluate 

whether their disability services and delivery systems complied with the Supreme Court’s 

decision in Olmstead v. L.C. requiring states to provide services in the most integrated setting 

and to propose a new system using the methodology in the publication. This publication was 

also used by the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus of Illinois, which represents more than 250 

mayors in Illinois, as part of a targeted series of community forums done with their policy 

stakeholders. In addition, transit maps and updated transit regional maps are research-based 

informational products that were used by the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County 

(Houston, TX) to focus on improving sidewalks around the transit stops that serve people with 

disabilities. These maps showed where people with disabilities lived as well as the 

transportation lines and common resources or services that they used.

Pocket Guide Provides Effective Communication Tips for Law Enforcement Personnel When 

Interacting with Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (Grant # 

90DP0094) 

The Rocky Mountain ADA National Network Regional Center developed and made available a 

pocket guide, Law Enforcement – Interacting with People with Intellectual and Developmental 

Disabilities, as part of the information package on police, law enforcement, and individuals with 

disabilities. This pocket guide contains information and tips for law enforcement personnel 

when interacting with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as 

information on how the ADA applies to law enforcement entities. 

The need for this guide was identified and content developed based on research findings from 

their study Disability and Law Enforcement Personnel: Perceptions from the Rocky Mountain 
16 

Region of the USA, which aimed to explore the perspectives of law enforcement personnel 

regarding interaction and communication with individuals with disabilities in order to enhance 

training and technical assistance; community stakeholders’ input; and partnership with local 

law enforcement personnel. This pocket guide has been used by law enforcement agencies and 

other community stakeholders.

New Manual on Supervision of Young Adult Peer Providers Adopted by the Massachusetts 

Department of Mental Health (Grant # 90RT5031) 

A NIDILRR-funded grantee at the University of Massachusetts Medical School developed a 

toolkit entitled Effectively Employing Young Adult Peer Providers: A Toolkit. This toolkit 

disseminated research-based information designed specifically for provider organizations that 

employ or want to employ young adult peer providers. This toolkit serves as a guide to 

providers who have faced challenges integrating the young adult peer role into clinical and nonclinical services. To provide employers with tips on how to enhance their capacity to sustain 

and grow a young adult peer workforce, the toolkit addresses topics including supervising 

young adult peer providers, establishing a supportive organizational culture, hiring and training 

young adult peers, and significant job difficulties. The toolkit directly influenced and led to the 

development of another manual focusing specifically on supervision, A Guide to Supervising

Young Adult Peer Support Providers - 2nd Edition. The author of the supervision manual, Dr. 

Vanessa Klodnick, has been delivering technical assistance on supervision of young adult peer 

mentors to the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health and other states. Additionally, Dr. 

Klodnick has also given webinars on this topic based on the research completed for the toolkit.

Touch-Responsive Models for Universal Access to Smithsonian Museums Exhibits 

(Grant # 90BISB0008)

This project develops new methods for fabricating replicas of museum artifacts and other 3D 

objects that describe themselves when touched so that museums can create exhibits that are 

accessible to everyone, including visitors with visual impairments. Phase I demonstrated how 

ordinary capacitive touchscreens could be repurposed as sensors for determining locations of 

finger touches on 3D surfaces and objects that have been hand painted with a carbon-rich 

conductive coating. Phase II improves on these methods by showing how both conductive 

(graphene) filament and transparent insulating filament can be loaded into a standard, dual 

extruder 3D printer to create light-transmissive, inherently touch-responsive objects in one 

step, obviating the need for hand painting. The new translucent models can be illuminated 

from below by the touch screen, allowing dynamic lighting effects and visual feedback when 

models or parts of models are touched.

This NIDILRR grantee has completed several high-profile projects that relied on methods 

developed in their recent Phase 2 SBIR grant. The grant was crucial because it provided the 
17 

grantee resources to do extensive human subject testing. Once the grantee understood how 

actual visitors tend to respond to the touch-responsive models, they used that knowledge to 

create many more models for their museum customers. The research conducted through this 

grant was essential to their recent project entitled Talking Tactile Brain at the National Museum 

of Health and Medicine. More information about these touch-responsive models can be found 

at the grantee’s website: http://touchgraphics.com/portfolio/tactile-maps-and-guides/. 

The American Psychiatric Association and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 

Administration Adopt Products from the Health and Recovery Solutions Suite in the Serious 

Mental Illness (SMI) Advisor Website (Grant # 90RT5038)

There is a documented need among behavioral health practitioners and the people they serve 

for tools, manuals, curricula, and practice guidelines that are easy to obtain, highly accessible 

and engaging, based on evidence-based or promising practices, and clearly laid out for 

immediate implementation. Additionally, these resources are most impactful when they can be 

used without a large amount of specialized training or expertise, or expensive technology. To 

address this, the NIDILRR-funded RRTC on Integrated Health Care and Self-Directed Recovery at 

the University of Illinois at Chicago developed the Health and Recovery Solutions Suite. This 

suite is designed to provide the field with ready access to a variety of tools that promote 

recovery, wellness, and/or physical health, thereby equipping providers and consumers with a 

well-stocked toolbox from which to draw in their work and/or lives. 

The American Psychiatric Association and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 

Administration launched the national SMI Adviser Project to advance use of person-centered 

approaches to care that ensure people with mental illnesses find the treatment and support 

they need. SMI Adviser offers providers with access to education, data, and consultations in 

order to make evidence-based treatment decisions, with over 23,400 learners reached to date. 

In recognition of the need for evidence-based interventions to support physical health, 

wellness, employment, and recovery-oriented care, SMI Adviser adopted the majority of the 

Solutions Suite products, including: Nutrition and Exercise for Wellness and Recovery, Diabetes 

Education Toolkit, Wellness Activities Manual, Planning/Conducting a Health Fair Manual, 

Keeping Healthy After the Hospital, Building Financial Wellness Curriculum, Self-Directed Care 

Implementation Manual, This is Your Life Planning Guide, Express Yourself Self-Determination 

Assessment, Raising Difficult Issues with Your Service Provider Guidebook, and Seeking 

Supported Employment Workbook. The grantee’s products are featured in the Knowledge Base 

component of their comprehensive website.

Clinical Practice Guideline is Now Required Reading for Neurological Subspecialties 

The 2018 publication titled Practice Guideline Update Recommendations Summary: Disorders of

Consciousness, developed with NIDILRR support, has been selected as one of the ten required 
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reading articles for the Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychiatry Continuous-Certification 

Examination. This certification is offered by the United Council of Neurologic Subspecialties, the 

only professional body that provides this subspecialty board certification for behavioral 

neurologists and neuropsychiatrists. The article provides recommendations to improve 

diagnosis, health outcomes, and care of people with disorders of consciousness (DoC). 

This accomplishment did not stem from a grant-funded activity; instead, it was the result of 

work supported through a memorandum of understanding between NIDILRR, the American 

Academy of Neurology, and the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. This effort was 

led by Joseph Giacino of the TBI Model Systems (TBIMS) Center at Spaulding Rehabilitation. This 

accomplishment illustrates NIDILRR’s role in translation of research to clinical practice 

guidelines and professional medical training. More information about the development of this 

guideline, NIDILRR-funded DoC research, and additional resources is available at the following 

website: https://naricspotlight.wordpress.com/2018/08/15/new-guideline-released-formanaging-vegetative-and-minimally-conscious-states/. 

Minimum Competency Recommendations for Programs That Provide Rehabilitation Services 

for Persons with Disorders of Consciousness 

This work is the second publication resulting from a memorandum of understanding between 

NIDILRR and the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. This guidance document to the 

field, Minimum Competency Recommendations for Programs That Provide Rehabilitation 

Services for Persons With Disorders of Consciousness: A Position Statement of the American 

Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the NIDILRR TBIMS, was co-chaired by Dr. Joseph 

Giacino, was co-authored by a technical expert panel comprised of members of the joint 

American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine-NIDILRR DoC Task Force. This position statement 

provides recommendations for “minimum competency” for hospital-based programs that 

provide services to patients with DoC. The process yielded 21 recommendations on the 

essential services required for effective DoC-focused rehabilitation, organized into four 

categories: diagnostic and prognostic assessment, treatment, transitioning care/long-term care 

needs, and management of ethical issues. The recommendations provide a framework for 

institutional providers and payors to evaluate the quality of rehabilitation services administered 

to persons with DoC. This work is an excellent example of the NIDILRR-sponsored knowledge 

translation pipeline from research to clinical practice and clinical program evaluation. 

Measure of Quality of Life in People with TBI (Grant #s H133A070037 and 90DP0047) 

The Traumatic Brain Injury – Quality of Life (TBI-QOL) Measurement System is a comprehensive 

measurement system designed specifically to assess qualify of life for individuals with TBI. 

NIDILRR funded a field-initiated grant and provided funding through several TBIMS grants to 

ensure collaboration between TBIMS scientists. This measurement development effort also 
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leveraged funding from several federal agencies. For example, TBI-QOL “optimized” several 

National Institutes of Health-funded PROMIS and Neuro-QOL item banks for individuals with 

TBI. The work also leveraged initiatives by the National Institutes of Health Common Fund and 

the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. TBI-QOL developed new item banks 

specific for individuals with TBI. The Department of Veterans Affairs funded an Office of

Rehabilitation Research and Development grant to develop military-related item banks. TBIQOL has been incorporated in the Department of Defense 15-year longitudinal study to 

examine the effects of TBI incurred by service members serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom or 

Operation Enduring Freedom. This measurement development effort is an excellent example of 

multiyear collaborations and leveraging of federal funding to create a reliable and valid 

measure of qualify of life following TBI. To learn more about the TBI-QOL, articles are available 

at: https://www.archives-pmr.org/issue/S0003-9993(19)X0004-0. 

Caregiving and COVID-19 Report (Grant # 90RTGE0002) 

The RRTC for People with Disabilities Across the Life Course focuses research, training, technical 

assistance, and dissemination efforts under the theme of “caregiver support empowers the 

whole family.” The mission of this RRTC is to facilitate the rapid translation and dissemination 

of state-of-the-art research and training to inform direct services and support programs 

designed to improve care, health, and quality of life of people with disabilities and their 

families. To achieve this mission of increasing access to family support, the RRTC aims to: 

(1) advance state-of-the-science research in caregiving, rehabilitation, and e-health selfmanagement support in people with disabilities and their family caregivers with the goal of 

maintaining independent living in the community; (2) train health and rehabilitation providers 

and researchers to support families caring for people with disabilities; (3) leverage findings 

from RRTC research projects to advance the capacity of health care and public health systems 

to deliver high-quality, tailored support to family caregivers of people with disabilities; and 

(4) utilize dynamic mechanisms to translate and disseminate knowledge to people with 

disabilities, family caregivers, policymakers, service providers, researchers, employers, and 

other key stakeholders. 

The RRTC completed a community-wide survey to better understand how the pandemic was 

affecting family caregivers. They surveyed both caregivers and non-caregivers. They found that 

family caregivers reported more negative effects from the pandemic than non-caregivers. They 

were more likely to experience social isolation, food insecurity, and financial hardship, among 

other issues. Family caregivers also reported that the pandemic had increased their caregiving 

responsibilities and that providing care was more physically, and emotionally difficult. To learn 

more, the report is available at:

https://ucsur.pitt.edu/files/center/covid19_cg/COVID19_Full_Report_Final.pdf. 

 
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Publication on Assistive Technology Access and Usage Barriers Among African Americans with 

Disabilities (Grant # 90RTST0001) 

The Langston University RRTC on Research and Capacity-Building for Minority Entities published 

an article in the Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling about the literature on assistive 

technology access and usage barriers among African Americans with disabilities. This article 

discusses the access and usage disparities and their impact on employment for African 

Americans with disabilities. The Center calls for bridging the digital divide through public policy 

reform, digital literacy awareness, and enhanced capacity-building within vocational 

rehabilitation and assistive technology service delivery. This article urges vocational 

rehabilitation counselors in education and practice to examine ways to increase assistive 

technology access and bridge usage gaps for African Americans with disabilities in public policy, 

vocational rehabilitation service delivery, and institutional infrastructure systems. The article 

can be accessed at the following link: 

https://connect.springerpub.com/content/sgrjarc/51/2/115. 

ADA National Network

One of NIDILRR’s largest investments is in the ADA National Network, which consists of 10 

regional centers that provide information, training, and technical assistance to individuals, 

businesses, and agencies with rights and responsibilities under the ADA. The network also 

includes research and knowledge translation components, which are carried out by two 

network grantees: the ADA National Network Collaborative Research Project and the ADA 

National Network Knowledge Translation Center, respectively. The following are examples of 

ADA National Network accomplishments reported to NIDILRR for FY 2020. 

Knowledge translation efforts in the ADA National Network are led by the ADA Knowledge 

Translation Center. The Center has three primary goals: (1) increase efficiency and impact by 

serving as a central resource to support the development, coordination, and deployment of 

ADA information, training, technical assistance, and capacity-building activities across the ADA 

National Network; (2) increase awareness and use of ADA research findings to inform practice; 

and (3) improve understanding of stakeholders’ needs for and receipt of ADA services.

ADA National Network grantees are highly responsive to the community, providing advice, 

information, technical assistance, and training through multiple modalities. In FY 2020, the 

centers received more than 17,598 technical assistance inquiries from the public. Exhibit 4 

presents the modalities used to provide technical assistance in response to these questions.
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Exhibit 4. Inquiry Response

The 10 ADA National Network Centers conducted 1,238 training activities impacting 84,703 

individuals, including customized training presentations, training courses, and conferences 

during the 2020 APR reporting period (June 1, 2019, – May 31, 2020). Audiences included 

service providers, individuals with disabilities and their families, business groups, state and local 

government agencies, architects and design professionals, and other professional groups.

In addition to training and technical assistance, the ADA National Network and its regional 

centers produce numerous products to aid in disseminating information to the public, 

employers, and individuals with disabilities about their rights and responsibilities. Table 3 shows 

the types and number of times a product was disseminated.

Table 3. Product Dissemination

Type Number Disseminated

Journal Articles 1,356

Project Publications 276,803

Video and Audio Tapes 68,919

CDs and DVDs 0

Books or Book Chapters 600

Bulletins, Newsletters, or Factsheets 1,134,345

Research Reports and Conference Proceedings 222

Phone 61% Email 30%

In-Person 1%

ADA Center Websites 5% Other 3%

INQUIRY RESPONSE
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Research Fellowship Program (Mary E. Switzer Fellowship Program)

The Mary E. Switzer Fellowship Program seeks to increase capacity in rehabilitation research by 

giving qualified individual researchers, including individuals with disabilities, the opportunity to 

develop new ideas and further their research expertise. Awards go directly to individuals, not 

their institutions, enabling Fellows to pursue independent research and training activities.

Distinguished Fellows are seasoned in their careers, must hold a doctorate or comparable 

academic status, and have had 7 or more years of experience relevant to rehabilitation 

research. Merit Fellowships are given to persons with rehabilitation research experience who 

do not meet the qualifications for Distinguished Fellowships, usually because they are in earlier 

stages of their careers. Fellows work for 1 year on an independent research project of their 

design. Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply for each of these Fellowships.

Six Switzer Fellowships were awarded in FY 2020, with a total of 13 Fellows submitting annual 

or final performance reports in 2020. Current Switzer Fellows are displayed in Table 4.

Table 4. Current Switzer Fellows and Project Titles

Name Project Title

Jennifer Sanchez Evaluating the Efficacy of a Group Intervention to Improve Workplace 

Soft Skills for Transition-Aged Youth with Psychiatric Disabilities

Morris Huang Implementation of a Sensor Platform for Multi-day Measurement of 

Manual Wheelchair-User Mobility Patterns in Real-World Environments 

to Inform Clinical Training and Improved Contexts for Research

Michelle Ballan Advancing Evidence-Informed Responses to Intimate Partner Violence 

among Women with Disabilities

Ongoing NIDILRR Activities 

The accomplishments presented are a small sample of the accomplishments realized as a result 

of the research and development sponsored by NIDILRR. The accomplishments were chosen to 

emphasize NIDILRR’s broad impact on individuals with disabilities, the families and care 

communities that support them, and society writ large. Moving forward, the organization will 

continue to sponsor rigorous research that is relevant to the needs and experiences of 

individuals with sensory, mental, physical, and developmental/intellectual disabilities.

NIDILRR will also focus on implementing and integrating the visions of the appointed NIDILRR 

Director and the Administration for Community Living Administrator. NIDILRR’s FY 2018–2023 

Long-Range Plan was published in March 2019. The plan defines NIDILRR’s organizational and 

programmatic framework and research agenda for the coming years. 

Strategic partnerships with other agencies in HHS and across the federal government have been 

instrumental in advancing NIDILRR’s mission. As such, NIDILRR will build on its historical 
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collaborations to identify best practices, conduct co-sponsored research, and address shared 

goals. NIDILRR’s Director will continue to serve as the Chair of the Interagency Committee on 

Disability Research, a federal partnership charged to promote a cohesive, strategic federal 

program of disability, rehabilitation, and independent living research; broker partnerships; and 

facilitate coordination and collaboration among federal departments and agencies conducting 

such research. NIDILRR intends to continue to lead and contribute to the advancement of the 

goals and objectives set forth in the recently drafted government-wide disability and 

rehabilitation research strategic plan.