The Center on Human Policy (CHP) is a Syracuse University based policy, research, and advocacy organization involved in the national movement to insure the rights of people with disabilities. Since its founding, the Center has been involved in the study and promotion of open settings (inclusive community opportunities) for people with disabilities.
A major focus of the Center is on community organizing, supporting people with disabilities and their families to act on their own behalf. Staff members work with and advise a large number of disability and parent groups and are continually involved in promoting self-determination for people with disabilities. Center staff members also provide technical assistance to a variety of groups on the international, national, state, and local levels. As part of Syracuse University, faculty members at the Center offer a variety of courses. The Center also sponsors community forums presented by leaders in education, law, human services, and the humanities.
Our staff and associates include educators, human services professionals, people with disabilities, graduate students, and family members of children and youth with disabilities. The Center has an Advocacy Board composed of people with disabilities, parents, and interested citizens that serves as an independent voice on behalf of the rights of people with disabilities in the community.
Through its funded projects, the Center on Human Policy provides information nationally to people with disabilities, their families, professionals, and the general public. These projects, which are staffed by parents as well as professionals, offer personalized support, referral, consultation, and follow-up, in addition to working with local agencies to develop local services.
The Center is involved with a broad range of local, statewide, national and international activities, including policy studies, research, information and referral, advocacy, training and consultation, and information dissemination.
These core values guide the Center on Human Policy:
- All people with disabilities are entitled to inclusive education, living, employment, and leisure opportunities.
- All people with disabilities have the right to live in their own communities and pursue their own lifestyles.
- People with disabilities should play a central role in the design, operation, and monitoring of the support they receive.
- All people in society share the responsibility to create inclusive communities.
The work of creating inclusive communities and an open society is not essentially a matter of resources but how we think about people who have disabilities.
“It is through this Center and the staff he selected and guided and to whom he entrusted its future, that Burton Blatt will continue to be heard-will continue to challenge us to move forward on the road he so clearly outlined for us.”
–Gunnar Dybwad