Site is Under Construction - Share Your Feedback Here!

Image promoting a new blog post. Title reads "New Blog Post" and the headline "Our community survey is closed. What's next?". Below the headline is a gray box with black font that says "Read Now" with a URL of www.coddc.org/blog. In the bottom left corner is the Colorado Developmental Disabilities Council logo and in the bottom right corner is the Colorado Office of Employment First logo.

Hello Council & Community Members,

The community survey closed on August 10th. I am pleased to share that 499 people responded to the survey. We are grateful for the number of responses received and the range of people from different backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives. For statistical information, please visit our Get Involved page. 

Survey Questions:

As we created the survey, the Council was interested in applying the meaningful life model, which meets people where they are in their current lives and allows people to find value and fulfillment regardless of their circumstances; in addition, a meaningful life is based on a person’s interests, strengths, support, and the intersection of their identity. 

The purpose of our community survey was to understand the needs of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, to understand where people with IDD are not treated fairly, and to understand what services people are accessing, as well as what changes they would like to see within their community. 

Outreach Events:

On June 1st, the survey went live. This gave us approximately two months to collect responses from people with IDD, families, caregivers, and service providers across the state of Colorado. It was throughout this time that the Council attended many outreach events to share the survey. These outreach events were held in different parts of the state of Colorado. The Council’s goal is to collect responses from people from multiple parts of Colorado. Areas that are targeted are held in the northeast region, northwest region, southwest region, the Denver metro area, and surrounding areas. Some of the outreach events the Council has attended are 

SOCO State Summer Games, at Colorado Mesa University, in Grand Junction, Colorado, PASCO’s 32nd Annual Summer Celebration, in Littleton, Colorado, Family Voices Colorado Social Event, in Louisville, Colorado, Colorado Office of Employment First Resource Fair in Colorado Springs, and the RTD Americans with Disabilities Act 35th anniversary celebration event in Downtown Denver. Each of these events was useful to spread the word of our community survey to people in different locations. It is through our outreach that our survey response represents people from all parts of Colorado.

As one of the newer staff members on the Council, I have enjoyed engaging with the community and discussing with different people. The most rewarding part about outreach is having to understand different perspectives aside from my own. We value responses of people from different backgrounds, cultures, and circumstances from different parts of our state. The results of the survey will equip the Council with the information needed to become better advocates in the future.

Next Steps:

Now that the community survey is closed, we have scheduled focus groups in partnership with the Colorado Office of Employment First (COEF). The intention is for the Council to learn more about the issues and challenges people with IDD face in-depth. This allows individuals to express their concerns and help discuss, as well as reflect on their own experiences. The results of these focus groups will be used as additional information on top of the results of the community survey. The dates of these focus groups are 

  • August 28, 2025 at 12pm
  • September 4, 2025 at 12pm
  • September 10, 2025 at 9am

We are wrapping up the data collection phase and are now moving forward with the data analysis phase. The results will be analyzed and interpreted into common themes and findings and shared with Council members and the general public. The results will be used to make decisions on the Council’s next five-year state plan, and the Council will host additional Community Engagement sessions/town halls to receive further input, which should be finalized by August 2026. After the Council votes on our five-year state plan, our decisions will be turned into projects, which branch off into education, advocacy, and grant-making.

We will continue to share our progress and keep you informed by sharing blog posts and updating our Get Involved page.

It has been a pleasure to work on the Council, and I look forward to more work being produced to make the world a better place for people with IDD and our community. 

– Yadiel Tesfaye

Council Planning and Evaluation Specialist