History

The Canadian Association for Research and Education in Intellectual Disabilities (CARE-ID) was established in 2004 in response to the growing need for a national association dedicated to addressing the interests of the intellectually disabled population.

In 2004, a Steering Committee of interested volunteers held an organizational meeting in conjunction with Association Strategy Group to drive the establishment of the national association.  To develop the strategic directional and operational plan for the association, 29 key stakeholder interviews were conducted.  The individuals interviewed were representative of the prospective membership and possible funding agencies.  The interviewees were asked to identify key issues and challenges that researchers, educators, and clinicians face individually or collectively in their work focusing on the intellectually disabled population. Interviewees were also asked to identify specific roles that the other prospective membership groups felt that researchers, educators, and clinicians should fulfill.

Upon analysis of the stakeholders’ input, one primary theme emerged: the association's key area of activity should be to facilitate the establishment of a well-connected community of all individuals and organizations that have a stake in helping to address the interests of the intellectually disabled population.  With emphasis on the achievement of this goal, the objectives of the association were developed.

During the past two years, CARE-ID has developed fundraising and communications strategies, and membership recruitment, retention and support strategies and established actions plans to implement the strategies. 

CARE-ID was incorporated as a non-profit organization on February 16, 2006.  The founding general meeting was held in May 2006 at the International Alliance for Social Inclusion Summit in Montreal, Quebec.