CRA (dba as Community Resource Associates) Consulting, Inc. was formed in 1982 by founder and CEO, Derrick Dufresne. CRA provides training and consultation services for a variety of stakeholders in the support of individuals with I/DD and Behavioral Health Challenges.

Additionally, Dufresne has delivered conference presentations, trainings, strategic board planning retreats, workshops, and management consultation to over 60.000 people in forty-nine states.   CRA’s innovative approach reflects a genuine compassion for helping others and a deep commitment to assisting providers, advocates, state officials and others in the implementation of the principles of full citizenship for all persons with disabilities into the mainstream of community life.

CRA has worked in 49 states, and Canada, has presented internationally, and continues to present and assist in this field throughout the United States.  Extensive work in transitioning individuals from institutional settings to community living has been facilitated in the States of Missouri, Ohio, Illinois, Nebraska, and California. Currently, CRA is involved in ongoing transition work in the State of Georgia. 

CRA’s long-term vision is to help build a gentle system of robust supports for all individuals who want to transition to a life in the community.  Our mission is to assist in the transference of control from systems to individuals, to assist them in developing lives of self-determination and inclusivity in communities across our nation.

While understanding that the community is a messy place, CRA’s core value is a belief that the community is a place where everyone belongs.  The goal is to invent the future, not predict it.