The Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council  was established by the Governor in September 2009.  It’s part of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000.  I’m on the Council.  Our mission is to represent the interests and needs of persons with developmental disabilities throughout Arizona- especially people that are underserved.  We support capacity building and systems change with the goal of increasing inclusion and involvement in the community.  We also promote self-determination, independence, productivity and integration to support persons with developmental disabilities and their families in all facets of community life.

 The Council has some federal funds that we’re supposed to use to support the implementation of our State Plan.  We just announced a brand new grant opportunity for applicants that want to work toward our goals.  We posted our Notice on our Council website  this week.  The grant opportunity includes elements to help work toward our Housing goals (up to $150K); Health and Wellness (up to $200K) and Advocacy (up to $200K).  We’ll be accepting applications from interested organizations through August 2.  Please forward this to parties that might be interested in helping- as the wider we cast our net the more likely we will be to get good ideas and applications.