For current information on the Community Investment Fund, please visit http://ruralinstitute.umt.edu/community-investment-fund
Applications for the 2017 Community Investment Fund are now being accepted! The Community Investment Fund is made available annually for innovative projects that help people with disabilities live, learn, work and play in their communities alongside people without disabilities. Any Montana organization, agency, non-profit group, or individual with a creative idea to promote community inclusion is eligible to apply.

By Lauren Beyer, Rural Institute Project Assistant
"Unlike most teenagers, Aaron looks forward to school every day. His favorite class is history, especially learning about the English colonies. He does not shy away from the social aspects of school, either. He has many friends."
Read more about Aaron.
The Children’s Autism Waiver renewal was approved by CMS. A letter will be mailed to families who have children currently enrolled in the Waiver. Please see the PDF letter for more details.
Updates
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The Montana Children’s Special Health Services (CSHS) Survey was mailed to a sample of families with a child(ren) or youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) in Montana. Deadline to submit the Survey is May 15th, 2017. If you intend to mail in your survey please do so no later than 4-5 business days prior to the May 15th deadline.
- We are in our final phase of the CSHS Project and will be hosting Community Discussion Forums across Montana in April and May 2017. During these forums, parents and primary caregivers of CYSHCN will be asked to discuss and interpret the Montana Children’s Special Health Services Survey current findings.
Continue reading Montana CSHS Statewide Survey and Community Discussion Forum
In conjunction with National Autism Awareness Month this April, several University of Montana departments and organizations will join forces to call attention to Autism Spectrum Disorder, which affects about one in every 68 children in the U.S. and is the fastest-growing disability category in Montana’s public education system.
Students and faculty members from UM’s psychology, communicative sciences and disorders, and teaching and learning departments will highlight the University’s efforts to address ASD, as well as provide information and resources, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 5, on the UM Oval.
Volunteers with the UM student groups Operation Smile and Students in Communication and Hearing Working in Action (SCHWA) also will participate, and UM mascot Monte will be on hand from 1 to 2 p.m.
http://news.umt.edu/2017/03/033017atsm.php