The research program of CPRF, pursues state and federal investments in breakthrough innovations that result in beneficial outcomes for people with disabilities. Particular focus is directed toward training, employment and successful independent living outcomes. In 1998, CPRF created a Research Advisory Council to ensure support of CPRF's mission by maximizing funding searches.
Current research programs receiving public investments include: The research and development tradition The Research and Development Tradition at CPRF
1973-1976 - Development of Comprehensive Competitive Employment Services for the Physically Handicapped, funded by Kansas Rehabilitation Services and Rehabilitation Services Administration, Developmental Disabilities, U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare. These early projects, designed in cooperation with faculty from the Wichita State University College of Engineering, provided proof-of-concept studies for workplace accommodations for people with physical disabilities through development of the Available Motions Inventory.
1977-1982 - The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Workplace Accommodations-I, was a cooperative venture of CPRF and WSU and was funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Education.
Components:
1978-1979 - A Study on the Feasibility of Developing a Printing Facility to Employ the Handicapped was a market feasibility study of a decal and specialty printing shop funded by the U.S. Dept. of HEW. The shop was initiated and continues in operation at Center Industries Corporation.
1980-1985 - Project Aid was a demonstration project to train adults with mental retardation and other disabilities to provide personal assistance services for people with physical disabilities. The project was primarily funded by a CETA grant from the City of Wichita, with additional funding by KRS, United Cerebral Palsy of Kansas, and the K.T. Wiedemann Foundation. In 1982 the project was renamed Project Aid Resource Center and was funded for three years by the City of Wichita Job Training Partnership Act program. In 1985, the project became separately incorporated as the Independent Living Center of South Central Kansas, Inc., which receives continuing federal funding through KRS.
1983-1988 - Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Workplace Accommodations-II was awarded a second five-year renewal by NIDRR.
Components:
1983-1993 - The Transit Company was a transitional living training project funded by the Kansas Council on Developmental Disabilities. Subsequent funding was from KRS and federal Social Services Block Grants through the City of Wichita.
Applied Engineering Center
1985-2000 - Applied Engineering Center projects are funded by a Kansas state legislative allocation to Wichita State University to support the cooperative rehabilitation endeavors of WSU and CPRF. From 1985 to 1998, AEC funds complemented the research projects of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center. In 1999 and 2000, they supported development of the School of Adaptive Computer Training at CPRF. Beginning in 2001, AEC funds will complement curriculum development for the Information Technology Project with Industry (see below).
1986-1987 - Feasibility Study of a Community Based Rehabilitation Program for Adults with Head Injuries was funded by the Wesley Foundation. CPRF staff visited existing programs throughout the Midwest to design a model project in Wichita.
1987-1988 - Workabilities was a demonstration project to provide vocational evaluation for adults with physical and neurological disabilities, funded by KRS.
1988-2000 - The Gateway Vocational Options project was initiated in cooperation with Easter Seals/Goodwill Industries to provide community reintegration and supported employment services to adult survivors of traumatic brain injuries. Initial demonstration funding was from a KRS grant, with subsequent year funding on a fee-for-service basis.
Rehabilitation Engineering Mobile Shop
1988-2000 - The CPRF Rehabilitation Engineering Mobile Shop provides assistive technology and accessibility modifications to homes and workplaces throughout Kansas, utilizing a 60-ft. trailer obtained through charitable grants from the Boeing Aircraft Company Employees Good Neighbor Fund. Initial demonstration funding was from a KRS grant, with subsequent annual grant renewals.
1989-1993 - Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Workplace Accommodations-III was awarded a third five-year renewal by NIDRR.
Components:
1989-1994 - The Supported Employment Initiative in Kansas was a federal grant to CPRF through KRS. People with disabilities received training and were supported in manufacturing employment at Center Industries Corporation and other aviation industries in the Wichita area.
1989-1991 - Cooperative Homecare was a U.S. Social Security Administration grant to CPRF to utilize supported employment in continuing the personal assistance services training for employment of people with mental retardation begun in Project Aid. This project was subsequently replicated in Iowa and Missouri.
1992-1993 - Integrated Work Options, funded by the Kansas Council on Developmental Disabilities, demonstrated a recruitment and training program for people with disabilities to work on the Boeing commercial aircraft window assembly contract newly awarded to Center Industries Corporation. Significant rehabilitation engineering capabilities were demonstrated to achieve a superior level of quality manufacturing and assembly production.
1993-2000 - The HUD Service Coordinator staffing was initiated for people with disabilities served by the CPRF Timbers Residential Program who had no other access to such services. Initial funding was by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development, with subsequent years' funding included in the HUD Section 8 contract for operation of the Timbers.
1993-1998 - Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Workplace Accommodations-IV was awarded a fourth five-year renewal by NIDRR.
Components:
1997-1998 - Preparing Persons with Severe Disabilities for Competitive Manufacturing Employment demonstrated that people with severe disabilities, some of whom were dislocated workers, could be trained in such occupations as computer numerical controlled machining at Center Industries Corporation and then placed in competitive employment in the community. The U.S. Dept. of Labor/Employment and Training Administration funded the project.
1997-1998 - Empowerment through Grantsmanship was a project funded by the Kansas Council on Developmental Disabilities to provide training throughout Kansas in grant proposal development to people with disabilities and rehabilitation professionals from organizations serving people with disabilities.
1998-2001 - Affirmative Enterprise Initiative for the Employment of People with Disabilities is a research and demonstration project focusing upon the selection, training, and employment potentials for people with severe and persistent mental illness in manufacturing settings such as Center Industries Corporation. The Forrest C. Lattner Foundation funds the project.
Assistive Technology Solutions Knowledge Dissemination
1998-2001 - The Assistive Technology Solutions Knowledge Dissemination project is a Field-Initiated Research grant from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, U.S. Dept. of Education. CPRF provides rehabilitation engineering services to evaluate and provide working drawings for assistive technology devices through an AT Solutions website. Visitors to the site can download the drawings, request professional blueprints, or even request CPRF to build the devices. By providing the drawings, AT devices can be crafted for individuals by local machine or wood shops, where the device would never find a market large enough to interest a commercial manufacturer/distributor.
1999-2000 - Project INCREASE (Increasing Natural Community Resources during Employment Assessment and Supported Education) was a demonstration project funded by KRS. CPRF, together with three other disability organizations in Wichita, formed a coalition to provide situational assessments for consumers referred by KRS and to support other consumers in their postsecondary education. The project is continuing on a fee-for-service basis.
Information Technology Projects with Industry
2000-2005 - The Information Technology Project with Industry will train 120 people with disabilities in one of four IT occupations in national and local demand, and will place at least 100 in IT employment over the five-year project. CPRF is partnering with Digital Consulting & Software Services, Inc., of Houston, TX, to provide training in the School of Adaptive Computer Training in Wichita and in DCSS training centers in Houston, New Orleans, Atlanta, and St. Louis. The Information Technology Project with Industry is a collaborative rehabilitation-and-business model supported by a grant from the Rehabilitation Services Administration, U.S. Department of Education.
Applied engineering center
Rehabilitation engineering mobile shop
Assistive technology solutions knowledge dissemination
Information technology Projects with Industry