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Health Care Initiative Awards

2026 Special Olympics Golisano Health Leadership Award

The Arc of Pennsylvania was awarded the 2026 Special Olympics Golisano Health Leadership Award from Special Olympics Pennsylvania.  This international award recognizes leaders advancing health equity for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Photo: 
Tracy Gross- Fritz, Arc of PA CFO, Chelsea Hammel, Special Olympics of PA VP Mission Integration, Sherri Landis, Arc of PA CEO, Rhonda Beech-Tyree, DHAN Facilitator, Nancy Shirley, Arc of PA Project Manager, Shaniece Ebelhar, Arc of PA Manager of Health Initiatives.
 
 
 
 

 

2025 PA COVID-19 Disability Barriers, Solutions Recognized as “Novel and Emerging Practice” by CDC

HARRISBURG, Pa. (March 3, 2025) — A statewide effort by The Arc of Pennsylvania, in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Health, to investigate, educate and report on challenges that the commonwealth’s disability community faced during the COVID-19 pandemic has been named a “novel and emerging practice” (NEP) by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).

The Arc of Pennsylvania and the COVID-19 Health Disparities Statewide Leadership Task Force, with input from regional community work groups, in August 2022 issued a report that identified the effects that the COVID-19 emergency response had on the disability community. Following that, The Arc convened regional workgroups to ask members of the disability community about solutions to address those barriers in the future. That report was issued in August 2023, concluding a multi-year effort funded with a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Health through the CDC’s National Initiative to Address COVID-19 Health Disparities Among Populations at High-Risk and Underserved. Contributors to the report included people with lived experience of a disability, caretakers, and family members of those with a disability, and professionals in support fields. The contributors were from the intersection of rural and racial diversity, and represented diverse types of disabilities, including physical, intellectual, developmental, and behavioral, as well as emotional, sensory impairment, and complex medical disabilities. “It is an honor that the CDC recognized this work as an NEP,” said Sherri Landis, Executive Director of The Arc. “The Task Force and regional community work groups worked tirelessly to learn about the barriers and health disparities faced by the disability community, and to develop solutions to prevent this from happening again. We look forward to continuing to advocate for the disability community, and these solutions provide us with guidance and messaging to educate legislators, policymakers and other stakeholders.”

Click here to read more (under the section of Pennsylvania Department of health)

Public Health Management Corporation review of the project – click here to read the report

 

2024 National Network of Public Health Institutes “Strengthening the Public Health System Award” 

HARRISBURG, Pa. (June 14, 2024) — The Arc of Pennsylvania, the state’s leading advocacy organization promoting the human rights of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), was awarded with the inaugural “Strengthening the Public Health System Award” from the National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI). The organization won the award for its campaign to raise awareness of health disparities related to COVID-19 in the disability community.
 
“It’s an honor to receive this award, and this recognition is a testament to the hard work that the project team put into producing this campaign,” said Sherri Landis, Executive Director of The Arc of Pennsylvania. “We feel empowered by this award to continue to raise awareness of health disparities faced by the I/DD and disability communities so that we can work with legislators, policymakers and other stakeholders to address them.”
 
The Arc of Pennsylvania developed two reports in 2022 and 2023, respectively: the first report identified COVID-19 health care barriers among people with disabilities, their families and was followed up by recommendations on addressing said barriers and disparities. The initiative was a multi-year effort funded with a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Health through the CDC’s National Initiative to Address COVID-19 Health Disparities Among Populations at High-Risk and Underserved.
 
Participants included people with lived experience of a disability, caretakers, and family members of those with a disability, and professionals in support fields. The participants also represented diverse types of disabilities, including physical, intellectual, developmental, and behavioral, as well as emotional, sensory impairment, and complex medical disabilities. Hundreds of individuals from diverse racial, ethnic, and rural populations participated in the study through regional and local interviews, surveys, meetings, and listening tours that served as focus groups over the last year to identify the core solutions and recommendations.
 
The “Strengthening the Public Health System Award” was introduced by NNPHI this year. It is “designed to honor a project team that has implemented a successful initiative to increase the capacity of state, tribal, local and territorial health departments and their partners to advance positive health outcomes.”
 
The award was presented during the NNPHI annual conference held May 21-23 in New Orleans. The Arc of Pennsylvania shared the honor with the Tribal Opioid Overdose Prevention initiative, a collaboration between Seven Directions, NNPHI and the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control’s Division of Injury Prevention.  Watch the award project overview video.
 
Photo: 
Sherri Landis, executive director of The Arc of Pennsylvania, stands with Michael Rhein, board chair of the National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI). 

 

2024 City & State Pennsylvania – Sherri Landis Trailblazers in Health Care

Since 2019, Sherri Landis has advocated for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities as leader of The Arc of Pennsylvania. She has prioritized reducing health disparities – securing a state grant to address the issue during the COVID-19 pandemic – and to close state institutions and make education more inclusive. Under her leadership, the organization was recognized nationally by the National Network for Public Health Institutes and the CDC. Landis previously led the DREAM Partnership, a nonprofit that promotes post-secondary education for people with disabilities.

Click here to read the issue

Photo: Sherri Landis, Arc of PA CEO
 
 
 
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NEW Module Just Arrived - Trauma-Informed Care. Visit our E-Learning Module Series. This series provides information and strategies for teachers, families, and paras to support the education of all students.

The Arc of Pennsylvania’s Making Employment Work course is an ACRE Basic Certification Training. In order to receive certification, participants must attend a 3 day, in-person training and then complete a self-paced, online curriculum. Completing this certification course will qualify individuals to provide Supported Employment services with Pennsylvania’s Office of Vocational Rehabilitation and Office of Developmental Programs. Our training combines lessons learned from traditional Supported Employment and Customized Employment techniques.

Arc Discovery Employment Transitions (ADEPT) is The Arc of Pennsylvania’s customized employment program. The Arc of Pennsylvania supports individuals with significant impact of disability to seek and maintain customized employment in their community. As a result, The Arc of Pennsylvania’s consultants are trained and nationally certified by Marc Gold & Associates, a national leader in customized employment, to provide Discovery, Customized Employment Job Development, and Systematic Instruction to individuals with disabilities in Pennsylvania who are seeking employment. In addition to providing customized employment services, The Arc of Pennsylvania hosts several certification courses with Marc Gold & Associates for individuals and organizations interested in national certification in Discovery, Job Development, and Systematic Instruction.

Include Me is a new model for inclusive education and gaining meaningful employment for Pennsylvania’s students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Arc of Pennsylvania and Include Me believe all individuals with significant impact of developmental and intellectual disability deserve equal educational and competitive employment rights. Our mission, build and strengthen the inclusive education capacity for all public-school students, and discover meaningful employment opportunities meeting Pennsylvania employee and employer needs. Include Me strives to ensure all impacted students have equal access to all aspects of life and the community throughout their lifespan.

Include Me is an initiative that was part of the agreement on final terms between the plaintiffs and the Pennsylvania Department of Education in the Gaskin Settlement Agreement. We were initially assigned to work with school districts with the lowest inclusion rates. After the initial success, we have grown in reputation among school districts. Currently districts voluntarily chose our services, which are provided free of charge to the district. In addition to our School Age services, we offer transition-age services to help teams plan a path to customized employment for students transitioning from high school.

Donation Refund Policy

We are grateful for your donation and support of our organization. If you have made an error in making your donation or change your mind about contributing to our organization please contact us. Refunds are returned using the original method of payment. If you made your donation by credit card, your refund will be credited to that same credit card.

Automated Recurring Donation Cancellation

Ongoing support is important to enabling projects to continue their work, so we encourage donors to continue to contribute to projects over time. But if you must cancel your recurring donation, please notify us.

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