PACER Center
952-838-9000
Champions for Children with Disabilities
PACER helps families of children with all disabilities, birth through 21.
About PACER Navigation Menu
PACER FACTS
- What is PACER Center?
- What is PACER's mission?
- Is PACER a 501(c)(3) organization?
- How is PACER connected to the community?
- What are some recent accomplishments of PACER Center?
- How will my contribution help PACER Center?
- What are PACER's future plans?
What is PACER Center?
PACER Center is a parent training and information center for families of children and youth with all disabilities from birth through 21 years old. Located in Minneapolis, it serves families across the nation, as well as those in Minnesota. Parents can find publications, workshops, and other resources to help make decisions about education, vocational training, employment, and other services for their children with disabilities.
Highlights from PACER programs:
- PACER provides information, support, workshops, and referrals to both families and professionals.
- PACER provides puppet programs on disability awareness and abuse prevention.
- PACER's Simon Technology Center provides software, adaptive devices and training to help children and young adults with disabilities learn to communicate through technology.
- PACER provides programs for Native American, African American, Hispanic/Latino, Somali and Southeast Asian communities. Many of our publications have been translated into Hmong, Somali and Spanish.
- PACER's Health Information and Advocacy Center provides a single source of information, including resources and support, for families whose children have disabilities and complex health care needs.
- Through the Technical Assistance ALLIANCE for Parent Centers, PACER offers consultation and technical assistance to the over 100 parent centers across the nation funded under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Its work affects the 7 million children with disabilities across the nation.
- Other programs focus on employment, grandparents, housing and bullying prevention.
What is PACER's mission?
The mission of PACER Center is to expand opportunities and enhance the quality of life of children and young adults with disabilities and their families, based on the concept of parents helping parents.
Is PACER a 501(c)(3) organization?
Yes, PACER Center is a nonprofit organization serving children and youth with disabilities throughout the state of Minnesota and the nation. You can find a report on the organization at the Minnesota Charities Review Council. Gifts to PACER Center are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
How is PACER connected to the community?
PACER Center is unique in that it serves children with all disabilities; learning, physical, emotional, mental and health. No other organization in Minnesota offers this broad range of service to families. PACER also works in coalition with 18 disability organizations.
Many of PACER's board members are parent representatives from the coalition organizations.
PACER's vision is to build a healthy, integrated community in which people learn to respect each other for what they have in common, and to celebrate their differences.
What are some recent accomplishments of PACER Center?
During PACER's last fiscal year, June 1, 2005 - May 31, 2006, PACER responded to:
- Over 37,800 requests for information and individual assistance from parents and educators, a number increasing each year;
- More than 6,700 requests for information and individual assistance from the Simon Technology Center and Software Lending Library;
- More than 1.7 million visitors to all of PACER's web sites from the U.S. and over 80 other countries.
In addition, PACER presented:
- Nearly 200 COUNT ME IN and LET'S PREVENT ABUSE puppet shows to more than 11,000 preschool and elementary students, teachers and parents;
- More than 500 workshops, training sessions and presentations to parents, teachers and students, providing technical assistance to other parent centers both regionally and nationally.
PACER's mailing list continues to grow; more than 110,000 people now receive PACER mailings several times each year.
How will my contribution help PACER Center?
Currently there are more than 175,000 children with special needs in Minnesota and 7 million throughout the nation. Each year, as more people hear about PACER, more requests are received for PACER services that help children with all disabilities. Yet PACER is not a United Way agency, and does not charge workshop fees to parents of children with disabilities because PACER knows those parents are already facing high costs as they strive the meet the needs of their son or daughter with a disability. Your support will therefore help PACER staff respond to the ever-increasing number of families and professionals who contact PACER for assistance.
What are PACER's future plans?
PACER's goals for the future continue to be ambitious:
- Increase the number of workshops for parents and professionals,
- Enhance trainings on specialized topics such as early childhood, transition from high school, surrogate and foster parents, and youth with disabilities in the juvenile justice system,
- Continue outreach to the African American, Native American, Latino/Hispanic, Somali and Southeast Asian communities,
- Increase awareness of options for responding to bullying behavior for teachers, staff, and students who are targets of bullies, and to students who witness bullying behavior,
- Expand services to parents of children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders,
- Expand use of technology to reach more families,
- Expand help to parents and professionals throughout the United States.
PACER continues to provide innovative programs and services that help families and their child with a disability to succeed - in their education, and in their life in the community. PACER frequently receives requests from parents and professionals about unmet needs in the community, and that information assists in determining needed programs for the future. Your suggestions and contributions help PACER continue to meet the needs of the community.
PACER's site offers many PDF files for download, which require 
