Collaborate to Educate: Fischler Professor Gives BSO Investigators Special Needs Training

Maribel Del Rio-Roberts, Psy.D., associate professor, Department of Human Services at NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice provided training for Broward Sheriff’s Office Child Protective Investigators (CPI) on Best Practices in Supporting Parents with Special Needs.

The training will provide the CPI’s with information on the rights of parents with disabilities, specifically as it relates to the laws, services, and resources that pertain to them when a dependency case is opened. There were four different training sessions held on two days that introduced participants to a variety of relevant topics including the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), the challenges faced by parents with disabilities, the importance of personal assistance services, the intersection of parental disability and the child welfare system, interventions to support parents with special needs, and national and community resources.

Del Rio-Roberts is the lead faculty for the M.S. in Developmental Disabilities program.