Tag: CODSN

Bend, Ore. – An Oregon nonprofit serving kids and families with disabilities may be forced to shut down many of its services, after losing a major federal grant.

The U.S. Department of Education just notified Central Oregon Disability Support Network it would not continue the final payment of a five-year grant. Executive Director Dianna Hansen says CODSN stands to lose $150,000, “Which doesn’t seem like a lot, when you’re the federal government. But it’s a lot for our small nonprofit that serves eight small counties in Oregon.” She adds, “Essentially, it’s almost half of our budget.” The nonprofit plans to appeal, but Hansen says, if the decision stands, “We’re going to be laying staff off. We’re going to be closing if not all, most of our offices.”

Hansen says USDOE said in its “Notice of Non-Continuation,” the department pulled the funds because of two lines in the original 50-page application submitted in 2021, which mentions DEI training, “‘Both our board and staff continue to actively pursue professional development to diversity, equity and inclusion.’” But Hansen tells KXL that training was conducted from 2018-2020, before the grant was awarded. And, “It was training for our board and staff to really understand the diverse types of disability.” She says they learned about the differences in needs for someone who is visually impaired, compared to someone in a wheelchair. And, Hansen says, they learned more about workign with the types of families CODSN serves, “It was really around understanding families in poverty and generational differences- we serve a lot of grandparents raising grandchildren.” Click here to read CODSN’s officials response.

Hansen notes nearly every other state applicant in the federal program included similar language, but, “They only removed the grants from Oregon, New York and Washington state.” She says no one from USDOE reached out for clarification on the language used in the 2021 application, nor was there an opportunity to update the nonprofit’s information.

CODSN’s grant funds a parent resource center serving 4,000 families navigating special education systems across eight rural Oregon counties, include Deschutes, Jefferson and Wheeler counties. 

Several members of Oregon’s Congressional delegation pledged to help restore the funding. Hansen says only Rep. Cliff Bentz did not respond to her request.