The mission of the CDDC is to advocate in collaboration with and on behalf of people with developmental disabilities for the establishment and implementation of public policy which will further their independence, productivity, and integration.

DAN B. DAVIDSON AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN INCLUSION

NOMINATIONS DUE BY JUNE 1, 2012!!!

The Dan B. Davidson Award for Excellence in Inclusion honors Dan Davidson, whose very life defined inclusion.  Dan defied the odds, set aside the advice of others, and followed his dream to live independently in the community.

In honor and recognition of Dan’s spirit, the Colorado Developmental Disabilities Council recognizes exemplary practices of inclusion that support persons with disabilities to become fully participating members of their community.

Awards will be given to individuals, agencies or organizations that have demonstrated visionary practices— providing exemplary service and supports — for persons with disabilities that lead to inclusion as active and valued members of their communities.  The Council will recognize outstanding examples of inclusion in the following categories:

• Education
• Employment
• Community Life

Click here for the Nomination Form.

Change it Anyway

Changing systems can be frustrating, confusing
and time consuming;
Strive to change them anyway.

If you speak out for change,
they may accuse you of being self-serving;
Speak out anyway.

If you make changes that work,
they may pretend to be an ally or persist with attacks;
Make change anyway.

If you make honest attempts at change,
they may undermine your efforts;
Attempt change anyway.

What you spend years developing,
they may undo overnight;
Develop it anyway.

If your innovations are successful,
they may be jealous;
Innovate anyway.

The progress you achieve today,
they may forget tomorrow;
Make progress anyway.

Create positive change the best that you can,
and it may never be enough;
Give it the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis,
it is between you and the person relying on the system;
It was never between you and them anyway.

This is dedicated to all those involved in changing human service systems to work better for people that rely on them for support.
Adapted by Michael Steinbruck from The Paradoxical Commandments by Kent M. Keith and Do it Anyway by Mother Theresa.

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The Spring 2012 Newsletter, 
Between the Lines, is available now.

Click here for the newsletter, or 
call the Council to have a copy mailed to you.

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The Colorado Developmental Disabilities Council
 is seeking applications for membership on the Council 

The Council seeks applications throughout the year from interested citizens of Colorado.  Appointments by the Governor are generally made effective July 1 of any year, but can be made at any time during the year when a Council member resigns their position.

Click here for the biographical sketch and application form for Governor appointment to the Colorado Developmental Disabilities Council, and  for additional  information about Council membership.  

The Colorado Developmental Disabilities Council is a 24-member body appointed by the Governor to advise the Governor and General Assembly on matters affecting persons with developmental disabilities under the federal definition.  United States Public Law No. 106-402 (the Developmental Disabilities Act) mandated creation of a Council on Developmental Disabilities in each state and in all U.S. possessions and territories. http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/add/ddact/DDACT2.html  The CDDC was established in 1977. The Colorado Developmental Disabilities Council functions independently, advocating for the development and implementation of public policy to further the independence, self-determination and community inclusion of Coloradoans with developmental disabilities.

Check Upcoming Events for information on conferences and events 
in Colorado and around the nation.

The Council meets every other month, and the meetings are open to the public. Please join us! Click here for a schedule of upcoming Council meetings.

Council Grants and In-House Projects:

Local Leadership Development -- Denver metro area

The Local Leadership Development in the Denver Metro Region Project is one of three local leadership development projects funded by the Council. The Denver Metro Community Parent Resource Center shall undertake local inclusive leadership development for adults with developmental disabilities and family members of children with developmental disabilities from culturally, ethnically and linguistically diverse populations as well as those from low socio-economic background who live in Arapahoe, Adams, Boulder, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson Counties, with a strong emphasis on areas in enterprise zones. The purpose of the training is to increase project participants’ knowledge and understanding of the history of the disability rights movement and the dynamics of system change in order to further social justice.  In addition to the Local Leadership Development in the Denver Metro Region Project, the Council shall bring the three projects to Denver for a joint session focused on engagement in the legislative and public policy processes at the State Capitol. Participants who complete the inclusive leadership development training shall have the knowledge, skills and experience to create positive system and policy changes that shall enhance and create opportunities for people with developmental disabilities to further their engagement in civic activities in their community.

Local Leadership Development -- Southern Colorado

The Local Leadership Development in Southern Colorado Project is one of three local leadership development projects funded by the Council. Southern Colorado Developmental Disabilities Services shall undertake local inclusive leadership development for adults with developmental disabilities and family members of children with developmental disabilities through the integration of adult learning, popular education theories, and various topics focused on leadership development for 12-15 participants from Southern Colorado. The purpose of the training is to increase project participants’ knowledge and understanding of the history of the disability rights movement and the dynamics of system change in order to further social justice.  In addition to the Local Leadership Development in the Southern Colorado Project, the Council shall bring the three projects to Denver for a joint session focused on engagement in the legislative and public policy processes at the State Capitol. Participants who complete the inclusive leadership development training shall have the knowledge, skills and experience to create positive system and policy changes that shall enhance and create opportunities for people with developmental disabilities to further their engagement in civic activities in their community.

Local Leadership Development -- Weld County

The Local Leadership Development in the Weld County Region of Colorado Project is one of three local leadership development projects funded by the Council. Access and Ability will undertake local inclusive leadership development for adults with developmental disabilities and family members of children with developmental disabilities from unserved and underserved populations in the region, including those residing in rural communities, Spanish speaking communities, and individuals whose disabilities affect their behavior. The purpose of the training is to increase project participants’ knowledge and understanding of the history of the disability rights movement and the dynamics of system change in order to further social justice.  In addition to the Local Leadership Development in the Weld County Region of Colorado Project, the Council will bring the three projects to Denver for a joint session focused on engagement in the legislative and public policy processes at the State Capitol. Participants who complete the inclusive leadership development training will have the knowledge, skills and experience to create positive system and policy changes that will enhance and create opportunities for people with developmental disabilities to further their engagement in civic activities in their community.

Project SEARCH in Colorado

Conducted by Employment Link, the project will replicate the essential components of Project SEARCH, which are: 

SELN -- State Employment Leadership Network

The State Employment Leadership Network (SELN) is currently comprised of 17 states, and is co-sponsored by The National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services (NASDDDS) and the University Center for Excellence for Massachusetts, the Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI), located at the University of Massachusetts/Boston. The project is a collaborative project among the two sponsors and member states, and provides support and technical assistance to the states.  Member states’ agencies that provide services and supports to people with developmental disabilities agencies have made a commitment to improving employment options and outcomes for people with disabilities and others who rely on public dollars for support.

Expected Outcomes:

The Council’s funding would secure technical assistance from ICI/NASDDS to support the Division for Developmental Disabilities (DDD), the Division for Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR), and other agency and community partners to:

• Complete a comprehensive assessment of existing statewide policies and practices designed to identify the strengths and weaknesses of Colorado’s existing developmental disabilities employment support policies, practices and infrastructure.
• Informed by the results of the self-assessment Colorado’s SELN would prepare an annual work plan comprised of goals, objectives and activities Colorado intends to pursue in order to improve employment outcomes for people with developmental disabilities.
• Colorado’s SELN would also develop an employment data reporting and display system to track the progress of employment on a state-wide basis and provide data to make administrative and program decisions to enhance employment options and outcomes for people with developmental disabilities.
• Participate in SELN-sponsored activities, such as national meetings, monthly peer-to-peer teleconferences, and the development and dissemination of issue papers.
• As amended at March 23, 2011 Council meeting, the dollar amount is increased by $10,000 to provide for travel to the annual national SELN conference for at least three people.

The purpose of this grant is to fund a series of trainings based on the Taking Charge! curriculum. Through a series of five one-day sessions the project provided person-centered planning and community development opportunities to adults with developmental disabilities and their circles of support. The Taking Charge! curriculum developed by PEAK Parent Center will be replicated in the Roaring Fork Valley through collaborative effort among local parent groups, Mountain Valley Developmental Services, the local Community-Centered Board, the local Board of Cooperative Education Services, and other community organizations.  Additionally, Council funding will augment funding obtained through grants from the Daniels Foundation.  Proposals for additional funding were also submitted to Pitkin County Government, local service organizations, and other private and community foundations.

The Council-funded Enhanced Person-Centered Planning in Colorado Project was implemented for a period of three years by bringing adults with developmental disabilities into the metro area of Denver from regions across the state. The Roaring Fork Valley grant allowed for cooperation among community organization in the Roaring Fork Valley to replicate the success of PEAK’s implementation of Taking Charge! and provided the benefit of the series of training sessions to people with developmental disabilities who are not able to travel to the Front Range. An additional benefit of the project is that it extends the benefits of the project to a currently underserved area of the state. 

CO Watch Our Words (WOW) is an in-house project of the Colorado Developmental Disabilities Council. WOW addresses the Council's objective to support leadership training by people with disabilities and their family members for other people with disabilities and family members who may become leaders in Colorado by continuing to conduct trainings in facilitated communication. WOW members are people with disabilities, their family members and other citizens whose mission is to train other people with disabilities, family members and interested citizens to use facilitated communication as a means to advocate for themselves and to increase the visibility and active presence of people with disabilities in many arenas.  WOW's trainings have been designed and conducted by WOW members who are users of facilitated communication, with assistance from family members and others who are facilitators for FC users. WOW has modeled and encouraged leadership and participation by people with disabilities in a variety of ways, from initiating and participating in person-centered planning meetings to taking leadership positions in community organizations.

 http://soe.syr.edu/centers_institutes/institute_communication_inclusion/default.aspx

The Council has supported the development of this self-advocacy group of facilitated communication users through a grant that includes payment to a coordinator.  While her role is crucial to the ongoing work of WOW, it is the WOW members who are FC users who play the key leadership roles.  What is significant about WOW as a self-advocacy organization is that the FC users themselves lead the monthly meetings.  They have determined the agenda for each meeting, and have initiated the practice of cross-training facilitators who attend WOW meetings so that they learn to facilitate with different FC users. The FC users developed the training curricula and agendas for the in-home and large-group FC trainings.   WOW is following best practices, in common with others who train large groups, in that the FC users of WOW are the most important presenters at the large-group trainings.  

Dan B. Davidson Annual Awards for Excellence in Inclusion, July 20, 2011

These awards recognize outstanding examples of inclusion of people with disabilities, and honor Dan Davidson, who died in 1996 at the age of forty-one. Defying the odds, Davidson had followed his dream of living independently in the community. To celebrate his spirit and memory, the Developmental Disabilities Council recognizes individuals and organizations that have demonstrated visionary practices providing exemplary supports for people with disabilities leading to meaningful lives in their neighborhoods and communities.

The Dan B. Davidson Awards are an annual event to recognize both individuals and agencies that have gone beyond the usual, provided ethical leadership, and have participated in cutting edge experiences.  Sadly, the practices are typically based on the person, and tend to fade when the person leaves.  However, for the time individuals are present, they have had great impact on an individual or a practice or policy.  The following individuals and agencies fit the above criteria.

Awards were given to individuals, agencies or organizations that have demonstrated visionary practices providing exemplary service and supports for people with disabilities that lead to inclusion as active and valued members of their communities.  With these awards, the Council recognizes outstanding examples of inclusion in the following categories:

• Education  
• Employment
• Inclusion in Community

Awardees were recognized at the Council's annual celebration on July 20, 2011. Awardees were honored for their efforts with a $500 honorarium.

Excellence in Education  

Kiki McGough nominated Westminster Elementary School Adams 50 for their support of all students with IEPs in their school boundaries, specifically Mat Aubuchon, Breann Herring and Laurie Crell. The three support staff successfully included students in general education classrooms throughout the school year.  Kiki received calls from numerous parents stating that their children were making great strides.

Julie Reiskin nominated Ron Hutter based on his exemplary long-term employment with the Cherry Creek School District transportation department. Ron’s work and pay are equitable to all other employees, his dedication to his job is clear and he advocates for himself and other employees when necessary. Ron celebrates 21 years as an equipment trainer and bus assistant with the school district in addition to living in his own apartment. Ron sets a great example for his peers and has changed the way his employer supports him as a valuable employee. 

Columbine Health Systems

Marilee Boylan-Miller nominated Columbine Health Systems in Fort Collins for their commitment as an employer to supporting employees and interns with disabilities. Columbine provides senior clients and their families with supports to live independently in the community.  Columbine was the first business to step forward to collaborate with Poudre School District, DVR, and Foothills Gateway to support students with disabilities to gain career skills and ultimately, paid employment, through Project SEARCH. They have donated office space, Internet access and the time and effort of their staff, to make the project a success.

Barry Rosenberg nominated Larry Ruiz based, not only on his personal yen for freedom and independence; but also for his long history of assisting others in their path to getting supports in the community.  Larry was raised in the state institution in Grand Junction and then moved to Heritage Nursing Home in Denver. In 1975 he moved to an apartment via the Atlantis Community and has been assisting others since then.  Assistance includes showing the ropes of RTD, Medicaid processes, finding apartments, and getting support staff for various needs. Larry has been active in ADAPT and can count approximately 60 notches on his belt to arrests with ADAPT in Washington DC. Barry has seen many leaders come in and out of the movement over the last 35 years, but indicates that Larry has been a consistent activist as he personally has led a life of quality and independence.

David Lane 

Jan Bach nominated David Lane based on his long fight for logic over bureaucratic rules; and for representing those with literally no voice, and at other times, for those with a voice that is ignored or unheard. David is most known for his work representing those facing the death penalty, including persons with intellectual disabilities. Additionally, David has represented students in “discipline” issues, when logic seems to have been lost.  Jan nominated David due to his representation of her daughter when the Thornton police ticketed her child at age ten for an incident with a paraprofessional at the school.  Charges were dropped.

Council Activities: 

The Council publishes a quarterly newsletter that is posted on its website and sent to the 3800-member mailing list. Minutes from Council and committee meetings are posted on the Council’s website, as well as pertinent articles and links to informative websites and publications. The website is presented in three formats; English, Spanish and accessible to screen readers. 

Please see the list of Council committees, read notes on committee meeting activities, and consider attending any committee meeting you may be interested in.

            The Council's Legislative and Public Policy Committee meets weekly at the Capitol during the legislative session, January through May.  The Council's legislative analyst for the 2011 legislative session, Fran Coleman, followed bills that the Committee determined relevant to the Council's Five-Year Plan.

Colorado Developmental Disabilities Council
Five-Year Plan 2012-2016
Goals and Objectives

Goal 1: Promote and support the development of leadership and self-advocacy capacity among people with disabilities and their family members.

            Objective 1: Promote and support the development of leadership, self-determination and self-advocacy capacity among people with developmental disabilities and their family members through a variety of strategies, including state-of-the-art technology.

            Objective 2: Support policy-making groups to actively include people with developmental disabilities and family members in decision-making processes.

            Objective 3: Serve as a representative voice of the cultural competence and cultural diversity interests and concerns among Colorado citizens with developmental disabilities.

            Objective 4: Support and expand participation of people with developmental disabilities in cross-disability and culturally diverse leadership coalitions.

            Objective 5: Establish or strengthen a program for the direct funding of a State self-advocacy organization led by people with developmental disabilities.

Goal 2: Support the development of broad community coalitions that include people with developmental disabilities in natural proportions to address community-identified issues.

            Objective 1: Support local grassroots efforts in communities outside Denver and in rural areas of Colorado to contribute to the development of such efforts as accessible transportation, affordable housing, employment, inclusive recreation or meaningful participation in community policies that expand access and inclusion.

Goal 3: People with developmental disabilities will be free from abuse, neglect, exploitation, seclusion and restraint related to differential treatment because of disability in any settings.

             Objective 1: The Council will investigate and establish an effective means for ongoing monitoring of the frequency with which people who have developmental disabilities experience instances of abuse, neglect, exploitation, seclusion and restraint.

             Objective 2: The Council will work to implement successful strategies to decrease and ultimately prevent instances in which people with developmental disabilities experience abuse, neglect, exploitation, seclusion or restraint.

             Goal 4: Support and sustain community inclusion of people with developmental disabilities in real jobs that offer real wages where non-disabled community members work.

              Objective 1: Participate in and support a network of agencies providing education, training, employment and other supports to employers, community members and people with disabilities.

             Objective 2: Support the cultivation of natural supports within non-segregated employment settings that foster job retention, skill achievement/enhancement and employee success.

             Objective 3: Promote and increase the active participation of people with developmental disabilities in designing the approach and implementation of employment strategies.

        Goal 5: Improve the quality of life, and increase real choices for people with disabilities to live in their communities by providing them the resources they need to live a quality inclusive life.

             Objective 1: Support or lead a collaborative approach to the development of a long-term strategic plan to increase public awareness and understanding of the gifts and abilities of people with developmental disabilities in Colorado, both those receiving services and those on waiting lists, as well as the supports they need to be contributing members of their communities.

             Objective 2: Engage in public policy and advocacy activities that encourage and result in the simplification and coordination of systems and resources for the support of people with developmental disabilities.