Open Doors for Multicultural Families (ODMF) serves multicultural individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities and their families in King and Pierce counties in the Seattle, WA region. Families they serve often struggle to navigate a broad network of services, opportunities and resources, including special education, the Developmental Disabilities Administration, the Supplemental Security Administration, housing operators, transportation services, and healthcare systems. ODMF will use their $72,000 Equity Capacity Building Grant to help families navigate these systems through culturally and linguistically appropriate case management.

In addition to tracking the impact of case managed navigation on family outcomes, ODMF will also survey and compile a report on the various systems’ professional staff with regards to their degrees of confidence in working with multicultural families with disabilities. Results of this survey will inform future work to ensure systems are serving those they are intended to.