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February 22, 2023

UConn professor receives $10M federal grant to create early childhood intervention center

Contributed Mary Beth Bruder.
By Andrew Larson

A University of Connecticut professor has received a $10 million federal grant to improve the equity of programs administered to children with disabilities and their families through the school’s new Early Childhood Intervention Personnel Development Equity Center.

Mary Beth Bruder, a professor at the UConn School of Medicine and the UConn Neag School of Education, will establish the center, which will work to create more equity in early childhood intervention access, especially those who have traditionally been underserved. 

Bruder will oversee the creation of an equity-based curriculum for institutions of higher learning and other programs that prepare early childhood intervention teachers, therapists and specialists. 

Another focus will be working with schools to recruit more students who are representative of the population served in early childhood intervention personnel preparation programs.

“This large, federal grant funding will grow, diversify, and truly strengthen the nation’s early childhood workforce and provide more equitable interventions for infants and young children with disabilities and their families,” Bruder said.

U.S. Department of Education data show that children of color and diverse backgrounds are less likely to receive services than those in all other racial and ethnic groups combined, according to UConn’s announcement about the center. 

Also, people entering the early intervention and preschool special education fields, who are predominately white, tend not to reflect the demographics of young children and families being served, according to UConn.

The Early Childhood Intervention Personnel Development Equity Center is part of UConn’s Center of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research and Service, which is also directed by Bruder.

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