East Lyme — The Connecticut Parent Advocacy Center in Niantic is getting a $200,000 grant through the U.S. Department of Education's Parent Training and Information Center grant program, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, announced Thursday.

CPAC is a statewide nonprofit that provides information and support to families of children with a disability or chronic illness, from birth to age 26.

The funding will support programming to help parents understand the nature of their children's disabilities and their children's rights to educational services, Courtney's office said in a news release.

"This funding will support CPAC in providing impartial, objective, and high-quality information, resources, and training that increase the skills of diverse families and youth to partner with professionals and to improve outcomes for children and youth with disabilities," said Beth Reel, co-executive director of CPAC.

The grant program is a key part of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Courtney noted that IDEA grants got a boost of $400 million in last year's bipartisan spending agreement but IDEA is still not fully funded.

He commented in the news release, "CPAC provides such important services to parents of children with disabilities here in eastern Connecticut and throughout the state — the information and support they provide gives families the tools they need to move forward confidently and empowered in their children's educational paths."