Opening Doors Research and Training Center on Children and Youth with Disabilities and Special Health Care Needs

Opening Doors, a project funded by the National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation and Research, was started in Boston in 2006. The focus of this project is research and training on how to give youth with disabilities and special health care needs from underserved communities a better future.

According to the US Maternal and Child Health Bureau, about 10 million US children have special health care needs. Children and youth with disabilities and special health care needs from immigrant communities, linguistic minorities and poor urban areas often face great obstacles to obtaining needed health, education, recreation and vocational services. The Opening Doors Project brings together national experts in pediatrics, public policy, education, family advocacy, and rehabilitation to help children from birth through young adulthood to study how to improve the opportunities for these children and youth and their families.