Honoring People | Driving Innovation | Impacting Systems
Our Purpose
Across our communities, the Commonwealth, and the nation, we work together to make the lives of people with disabilities better.
Who We Are
Established in 1969 at the University of Kentucky and housed under the Office of the Vice-President for Research, the Human Development Institute (HDI) is Kentucky’s Center on Disability and part of a national network of University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs)—a federally supported network of research, training, and service centers working to improve outcomes and expand opportunities for people with disabilities.
We also administer Kentucky’s Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) program, preparing the next generation of interdisciplinary leaders to improve the health of infants, children, and adolescents with neurodevelopmental and related disabilities.
HDI’s work is funded through a diverse portfolio of grants, contracts, and state funding.
As a statewide center and national resource, HDI serves Kentucky and the nation by connecting research, policy, and lived experience to advance meaningful practice and systems change. Together with the Commonwealth Council on Developmental Disabilities and Kentucky Protection and Advocacy, we form Kentucky’s Developmental Disabilities Network.
Mission
To advance efforts that improve the lives of all people who experience disability across the lifespan.
Vision
A society in which all people with disabilities are welcomed, valued, and have opportunities to engage in and contribute to every aspect of community life.
As the University of Kentucky exists to serve and advance the Commonwealth, HDI exists to improve the lives of Kentuckians with disabilities.
How We Work
Our work is guided by three commitments: to Honor People, Drive Innovation, and Impact Systems. These commitments shape both what we do and how we operate as an organization.
We Honor People by
We Drive Innovation by
We Impact Systems by
- Recognizing that disability reflects the interaction of functional differences with environmental and attitudinal barriers and focusing our efforts on removing these barriers.
- Grounding our work in the lived experience of people with disabilities, respecting people as experts in their own lives, promoting self-determination, informed choice, and meaningful participation in decisions that affect them.
- Promoting access to education and employment as essential foundations for well-being, independence, and community engagement.
- Valuing the essential role of families and networks of support.
- Engaging in open, responsive communication.
- Fostering dialogue that challenges assumptions and strengthens disability policy and practice in Kentucky and across the nation.
- Cultivating collaboration across communities, agencies, and disciplines.
- Advancing research, policy, and leadership to amplify voices and expand opportunity, belonging, and contribution for people with disabilities, while supporting leadership development and continuous learning.
- Translating research into practice and practice into policy.
- Developing, testing, evaluating, and scaling promising approaches to address persistent and emerging challenges facing people with disabilities.
- Working across systems that shape where and how people learn, work, live, receive support, build relationships, and participate in their communities.
- Sharing knowledge broadly across Kentucky and the nation.
- Demonstrating the coordination and collaboration required for meaningful systems change.
- Ensuring that policy and practice are informed by data, research, and the lived experience of people with disabilities.
- Upholding in our work the standards we seek to advance in society.