Looking Ahead:
Grant Projects and Activities
Colorado Developmental Disabilities Council 
2010   

Council Grants and In-House Projects:

Cultural Competence & Responsiveness Conference

           The first annual conference was held in October 2008, and the second conference was held on October 9-10, 2009 in Aurora.  The conferences included a two-day conference and a follow-up one-day workshop to be held after the conference.  At both conferences participants contributed to the planning of the agenda for the follow-up workshop in a session based on person-centered models. Registration for the January 7, 2010 workshop is still open!

The Council offered a unique model by combining the conference with a follow-up workshop, based on the assumption that a follow-up workshop is more effective than the more typical training provided by a one-time conference. The workshops encourage participants to frame the content of the workshop, implement some of the ideas they learned at the conference, and engage in an interactive discussion of concepts, obstacles and opportunities. 

REGISTER HERE!  Cultural Competence and Responsiveness: A Workshop, January 7, 2010, Denver

Dan B. Davidson Annual Awards for Excellence in Inclusion, July 28, 2010

            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 persons with disabilities leading to meaningful lives in their neighborhoods and communities.

El Grupo Vida Leadership Development and Empowerment Project

            Conducted by El Grupo Vida, the project is guided by four goals: 1) Conduct training sessions in Spanish that will provide an overview of the service system and written materials in Spanish, 2) teach Spanish-speaking families about the empowering tools of Future Plans and Personal Networks, 3) Support a group of family members and people with developmental disabilities to pursue their own plans for leadership development, and 4) Provide computer training to family members so that they may better access information needed to support their children with developmental disabilities and their own community leadership efforts.

Enhanced Person-Centered Planning Initiative Project

            PEAK Parent Center just concluded the second year of the Enhanced Colorado Person-Centered Planning Initiative Project to build upon and expand existing person-centered planning efforts in Colorado.  During the third year the project will continue to offer person-centered planning to young adults with developmental disabilities, ages 21 to 30, to address the need for best-practices in life planning for young adults, and to build upon and expand existing person-centered planning efforts in Colorado.  The project will include young adults with developmental disabilities who represent the broad range of ethnic, cultural and geographic diversity in Colorado. All materials and training will again be offered in English and in Spanish. The project will produce outcomes in the following areas:

1)      Person-centered planning facilitation services, with a focus on Aurora for a Live-Building training series;

2)      Leadership and self-advocacy development offered through a five-session course entitled “Taking Charge!”

3)      Follow-up and support for person-centered planning circles/networks,

4)      Training in the facilitation of the person-centered planning processes in order to increase the number of facilitators statewide,

5)      Marketing of project activities for the purposes of recruitment for the Life building and Taking Charge courses, and the increase in the number of person-centered planning networks statewide, and

6)      Forming a statewide coalition of person-centered planning initiatives.

PEAK's presentation to the Council on May 28, 2008 is available by clicking here.

Full Access for All Abilities

Conducted by Access and Ability in Weld County, the project will continue during its third and final year the collaborative advocacy and training effort between Access and Ability and the Arc of Weld County targeted to young adults with developmental disabilities and their families. The project will continue to provide materials and training in Spanish and in English to deliver a Mobilizing Families training series. The project will initiate and support a Youth Leadership Team and continue work with regional entities that provide services and supports in order to craft a cooperative agreement to address issues of concern to people with developmental disabilities and their families.  Additionally, the project has created a “Real Work” Working Group and will continue to work with local and regional partners to develop a policy that no transitioning youth will be referred to a sheltered workshop for employment training. A significant goal of this Working Group is to identify barriers to real work and post-secondary education for young adults with developmental disabilities. Finally, the project will continue with the development of a replicable database to track and identify barriers to community inclusion for people with disabilities and their family members, and to monitor the effectiveness of project training and advocacy activities.

Access and Ability's presentation to the Planning and Grants Committee on March 17, 2008 is available by clicking here.


Project SEARCH in Colorado

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

1) Lead coordinating agency that has an emphasis on business and familiarity with human resources in medium to large companies, as well as having experience with job development, coaching and follow-along for people with disabilities who have jobs in non-congregate settings; 

2) Business partner (e.g. hospital, bank, or university) that provides one classroom for 15 students and internships; 

3) Local agency partners. For example, Vocational Rehabilitation or a Center for Independent Living employs the internship support/job coaches; the school district employs the classroom teacher and recruits students; 

4) Technical Assistance from Project SEARCH consultants and the Project SEARCH curriculum; 

5) Students with disabilities and family members who are project participants shall have the opportunity to act in an advisory capacity with other project partners.

Watch Our Words

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.

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.

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 2010 legislative session, Sheryle Hutter, follows bills that the Committee determines relevant to the Council’s Five-Year Plan.

How to Apply for Grants from the 
Colorado Developmental Disabilities Council

In order to fund innovative projects that address the mission of the Colorado Developmental Disabilities Council (CDDC), the Council grants money through the Request for Proposals (RFP) process.

RFP’s focus the Council’s funding efforts on achieving specific outcomes in the Federal Five-Year Plan priority areas (see a summary of the Goals and Objectives for the priority areas).  

RFP process

The majority of the Council’s funds available for grants are distributed through a Request for Proposals (RFP) process.  The Council will release announcements requesting proposals to respond to specific priorities or initiatives to achieve specific outcomes.

The RFP process begins at the committee level, with a committee recommendation as to the scope of work and money to be granted for a given project.  Check the Council’s and its Committee’s goals and objectives if you are interested in talking with a particular committee about a project concept.

An RFP reflects very specific ideas for a project that the Council would like to see implemented.  The Council will be very specific about the areas to be addressed, methodologies, deadlines, desired outcomes and funding levels. Once the Council approves an RFP to be issued the proposal review and decision-making process begins, with the help of the Office of Procurement.

The Council works with the Office of Procurement for the Department of Human Services to convene a committee of Council and community members that evaluates all of the proposals and decides which proposals to fund.

If you are interested in responding to an RFP, you must register with the State of Colorado.  Check the State website at  http://www.gssa.state.co.us/ or call the help desk at (303) 894-2039 for general questions about the BIDS system, and technical assistance.   To register with BIDS, vendors must download the forms from the website or visit the State Purchasing Office.  Vendors must complete and sign a form, complete and sign a W-9 form for Federal Income Tax purposes, and submit a check payable to the State of Colorado for $40.00.  The annual fee of $40.00 allows the vendor to download solicitation specifications and to bid on State business requirements at any State of Colorado agency, including institutions of higher education, for one (1) year.

You may access the Internet from your own computer at your convenience, or use a computer with Internet access at any public library.  Be sure to check the website often for any changes that may be made to the original solicitation document.  Contact the Purchasing Agent listed on each solicitation with specific questions about the project in which you are interested.