Mary C. Rizzolo
Project Coordinator
Mary C. Rizzolo (Mary Kay) is the Associate Director of the Institute on Disability and Human Development (IDHD), the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities for the State of Illinois. Ms. Rizzolo received her BA and MA in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina Central University, respectively. She is currently completing her doctoral degree in Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago where she is researching the determinants of state utilization of nursing homes and state-operated institutions for persons with developmental disabilities.

Ms. Rizzolo has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and monographs on financial and programmatic trends in the states and the nation; state commitments for family support, supported living, and supported employment; and assistive technology for persons with cognitive disabilities. Over the past decade Ms. Rizzolo has served as a professional research assistant at The Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities, as a policy analyst for The State of the States in Developmental Disabilities Project, as a research assistant in the Kiley Evaluation Project in Illinois, and as a Mental Retardation Habilitation Coordinator at a large ICF/MR in North Carolina, where she managed a residential unit for individuals with dual diagnosis.
Organization: Institute on Disability and Human Development (IDHD)
E-mail: (mrizzo3@uic.edu)

• Access and Use of Assistive Technology to Support Choice and Control
  Assistive technologies can be of enormous value in supporting the abilities of persons with ID/DD to exercise greater control over... (More)
  
  
• The Illinois Direct Support Professional Workforce Initiative
  This project is a three year workforce systems change initiative funded by The Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities (ICD... (More)
  
  

  Journal Articles

• Braddock, D., Hemp, R., Parish, S., & Rizzolo, M. C. (2000). Growth in state commitments for community services: Significance of the Medicaid Home and Community Based Services Waiver. Mental Retardation, 38(2), 186-189.
  
  
• Parish, S. L., Braddock, D., Hemp, R., & Rizzolo, M. C. (2000). Status of family support services and spending in the U.S.. Mental Retardation, 38(6), 547-550.