The Mosaic Collaborative - Areas of Focus
Research
The Mosaic Collaborative utilizes the expertise of academic and independent researchers whose interests are to provide objective, non-partisan studies on critical disability issues. Researchers from educational institutions, governmental agencies, private companies, and non-profit organizations are invited to conduct studies that answer questions about critical disability issues. All studies are focused on social science research rather than medical research, which are already undertaken by highly-qualified medical institutions. Since no single mode of research can adequately fulfill our quest for knowledge, the Mosaic Collaborative works with researchers whose studies may be structured as one of several types, including, but not limited to, the following:
- Strategic Research: Knowledge is generated about specific disability issues that the Mosaic Collaborative has determined are important to achieving its mission and strategic objectives.
- Health Disability Policy and Systems Research: Health- and disability-related research about institutions and organizations and their roles in shaping public policy and improving implementation.
- Disability Services Research: Research into disability services to examine ways of improving service delivery for persons with disabilities and their families.
Learning Opportunities
The Mosaic Collaborative provides learning opportunities for students and professionals to work with experts in the field of disabilities to gain a working knowledge of disability issues, public policy and advocacy.
- Internships/Practica: Undergraduate and graduate level college students with an interest in the field of disabilities have opportunities to expand their knowledge and experience through internship or practicum placements within one of Mosaic's agencies or national departments.
Interns and practicum students can choose to be involved in research, community organizing activities, local grassroots advocacy efforts, marketing and publications, symposium/conference coordination, public policy activities, or any combination thereof. The list of possibilities is endless. Therefore, students may also choose to propose a unique area of practical study they wish to pursue while with Mosaic.
- Specialized Educational Experiences: Professionals from around the globe are invited to participate in specialized educational experiences that expand their current knowledge-base about the disability field. The intent is to equip these leaders with new skills and tools so they can return to their communities and more effectively make quality decisions that impact the lives of people with disabilities. Professionals may come from health and human services agencies, disability services providers, educational institutions, local or federal governments, trade associations, and other advocacy organizations.
- Domestic/International Exchanges: Domestic and international exchanges are conducted to provide opportunities for each partner to learn new perspectives from one another. Partners return to their communities equipped with new ideas and strategies for providing quality services to individuals with disabilities.
The exchanges can focus on a variety of topics, including advocacy, community participation and integration, quality enhancement, self-determination (person-centered planning), disability-specific training (e.g., autism, epilepsy, etc.) on new interventions and services, and governance and volunteer activities (e.g., Mosaic-Bethel Institute in Germany annual exchanges).
- Augmented Classroom Learning: The Mosaic Collaborative helps bridge the learning gap between the academic and practical worlds through presentations by professionals in the field of disabilities to students in the classroom. The intent is to build interest among college students for pursuing a career in the disabilities field, whether as a policymaker, non-profit manager/leader, advocate, or medical professional.
- Symposia and Conferences: Symposia and conferences are hosted by the Mosaic Collaborative to bring together stakeholders at various levels to learn about and share current research findings, best practices and public policy issues in the field of disabilities. Participants include a wide range of people, including college students, academicians, professionals, policymakers, and people who have disabilities and their families.
- Journal: The Mosaic Collaborative Journal is a journal of current research, best practices, and public policy recommendations for policy-makers, professionals, and families interested in seeking effective ways to better support individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Researchers, academics, and professionals from educational institutions, governmental agencies, private companies, and non-profit organizations are invited to submit articles that address critical disability issues. The aim is to disseminate new information and recommendations that can help guide providers in implementing best practices and assist policymakers as they formulate better public policies that positively affect children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Public Policy
In local communities across the country and around the world, the Mosaic Collaborative will be the catalyst for innovative projects that bring key stakeholders and community partners together on common issues with the intent of creating solutions that are realistic, attainable and meaningful for people who have disabilities and their families.
- Community Projects: Community projects are initiated to address public policy issues that affect individual communities. Often, these projects may take the shape of demonstration projects that indirectly impact public policy in a particular community. All community projects are evaluated based on the feasibility of conducting research. Regardless, all community projects must meet specific criteria in order to be undertaken by The Mosaic Collaborative, which include the following:
- Unique -- projects that are not normally funded by traditional funding streams
- Change Agent Potential -- projects that have the potential to change/affect existing public policies in their communities/states
- Incubator -- projects that spawn new research on public policy implications
- Partnership Potential -- projects that can be managed by outside groups / entities (e.g., other Mosaic agencies/departments; educational institutions; non-profit organizations, businesses, government agencies, etc.)
- Training: The Mosaic Collaborative develops training curricula and materials on a variety of advocacy topics, particularly as it relates to disability issues. The training curricula and materials are created with a wide range of audiences in mind, including direct care professionals, non-profit managers and leadership, businesses, self-advocates, families of persons with disabilities, government officials, and other government agency representatives.
- Solution-Oriented Policy Papers: The Mosaic Collaborative produces solution-oriented policy papers as a direct result of its policy analysis and research. Policy papers help formulate and critique policies that have a direct bearing on our society by providing research-based solutions that will potentially shape and inform decisions that affect policy decisions. This work will be tied primarily to research on health and disability policies and systems, as well as to research on disability services. Policy papers will be disseminated through various avenues to ensure that the appropriate audiences are reached, such as articles in The Mosaic Collaborative Journal and other professional journals, presentations at conferences, demonstration projects, and single-topic symposia.
- Volunteer Opportunities: Volunteer opportunities abound at the Mosaic Collaborative. Skilled volunteers may be asked to help inform constituents of public policy implications that can have a profound affect on their lives or the life of a loved one, or they may help develop communication about public policy changes that are happening at the local, state or federal levels. In these ways and others, volunteers are a key component of helping advance the strategic goals of the Mosaic Collaborative.
