Center activities provide a real return on the investment of the Congress and the federal government in the network. Preservice Training . A successful quality of life in the community for individuals with developmental disabilities begins with well-trained professionals. Centers have the unique ability to deliver high quality local and statewide personnel training in a collaborative, coordinated, interdisciplinary fashion and to address issues that are lifespan appropriate from infants to the elderly, and across health, education, and social service systems. Graduates from Center programs are some of the best-prepared professionals in the disability field and can be found in leadership positions throughout the country .
Centers provide quality, exemplary services directly to families and individuals.
These include a broad array of services including, but not limited to clinical, health, prevention, education, and vocational services, direct service staff training, diagnostic services, supported employment, and person centered planning. In Ohio, the Nisonger Center of the Ohio State University, is working with families living in rural counties of Ohio who encounter many barriers to accessing quality care for their children. This resulted in a fractured process as well as a great expense in time and money for the family. The Nisonger Center now sends teams of providers to rural areas to provide interdisciplinary care to families. They provide evaluations of children, training for local healthcare providers, and support for the families through a system of 38 rural clinics.