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The new year is upon us, granting us an opportunity to articulate our direction and pronounce our goals moving into 2018. At the same time it allows us to revisit The Arc California’s mission:
To promote and protect the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and actively support their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes.
We aim to further fulfill that mission this year in the following ways:
- Continuing our advocacy partnership with United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) affiliates throughout the state, and partnering with The Arc and UCP members to actively advocate for the I/DD community in California. This will include a policy development meeting of affiliate executives at the end of January, and the annual The Arc/UCP Policy Conference March 11-13 in Sacramento.
- Continuing our leadership of the Lanterman Coalition and collaborating with Coalition members to further the I/DD community’s influence in the State Capitol and beyond. Our primary goals this year are increasing opportunities for affordable, integrated community housing for people with I/DD, and increasing funding and stability for the community services system.
- Strengthening The Arc/UCP’s relationships with both state and federal lawmakers through grassroots involvement. We will engage community leaders and support local efforts to connect the disability community with elected officials. This will be especially critical as federal lawmakers have attempted massive reductions to Medicaid and have hinted that they will try again.
- Increasing community organizing efforts throughout the state. Too many families and individuals feel they are on their own trying to survive without support from a community. This has become especially evident the last few years by the racial disparity in community-based services. The Arc will put resources and energy into focused outreach campaigns to connect families and increase their power.
- Monitoring and contributing to the development of key policies that will have tremendous impact on the I/DD community, including the new rate study by the Department of Developmental Services and Self-Determination.
- Creating a long-term strategy to address the critical workforce needs for community-based services. We will collaborate with service providers, direct-support professionals, and self-advocates to prioritize the needs and explore options to find solutions.
- Advocating for the civil rights of people with I/DD and improving crime reporting. We will sponsor two bills this year: (1) a bill to repeal a reference in the “elder and dependent adult abuse” law that equates people with disabilities to minor children; and (2) a bill to upgrade law enforcement agencies’ hate crimes policies, which govern officers’ enforcement of hate crime laws. The new law enforcement agency polices would include specifics to help officer recognize anti-disability hate crimes.
- Continuing our involvement and participation in several statewide workgroups and coalitions focusing on health outcomes, early intervention services, long-term services and supports, and more.
It will be a busy year and we hope you will join us in our efforts to support people with I/DD in California.