Nicholas J. DeMarco, PsyD 

Director of IDD and Mental Health Supports, Philadelphia Coordinated Health Care

Building ID Capacity in Specialty Care Services

Have you ever heard, “We don’t treat people with Intellectual Disability (ID)”? I certainly have. This message can leave families and caregivers frustrated and hopeless when a loved one needs specialty health care services.  Where do we go from here?  In short, the answer is training.  Many specialty providers do not get adequate training about treating people with ID, and we can take steps to increase health care providers’ understanding about ID. Building capacity requires educating both current and future providers to close the service gaps in our system. 

I facilitate no-cost training for behavioral health and other professionals through the South Eastern Pennsylvania Health Care Quality Unit. The model itself is unique to Pennsylvania, but training is an invaluable resource in building awareness and systemic capacity.  Bringing training opportunities and programs to scale across disciplines is what we need to do to ensure that people with ID can access specialty care when they need it. 

Erik Carter, PhD, FAAIDD,Appointed the Luther Sweet Endowed Chair in Disabilities at Baylor University and Executive Director of the Baylor Center on Developmental Disabilities.

Seven New Members Have Joined the Ranks of Associate Editors of IDD 

Michelle Reynolds, PhD, FAAIDD

Jan Siska, MA, PhD

Amy Esler, PhD

Matthew Bogenshutz, PhD

Kelly Nye Lengerman, PhD, MSW

Kruti Acharya, MD

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