State of Arizona
Governors Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD)

Annual Report 2009
Who We Are...
The purpose of the
GCDD is to engage in
advocacy, capacity building and systemic change
activities for individuals
with developmental disabilities and their families. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Developmental Disabilities is the federal administrating and
funding agency. A primary activity is to develop a five-year strategic
State Plan. After conducting comprehensive re-

search and analysis on
issues that affect persons
with developmental disabilities, the current State
Plan summarizes how
services and programs
will be structured within
the State of Arizona. The
essence of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights
Act (DD Act) is to assure
that individuals with developmental disabilities and
their families participate in
the design of, and have
access to needed community services, individu-

alized supports and other
forms of assistance that
promote selfdetermination, independence, productivity and
integration and inclusion
in all facets of community
life.

determination, be independent, be productive
and be integrated and
included in all facets of
community life." Councils
on Developmental Disabilities are located in
every State and Territory.
Council members are appointed by governors to
represent and advocate
for people with developmental disabilities. Council members serve in a
volunteer capacity. More
than 60% of these volunteers must be people with
developmental disabilities
or family members. In

GCDD
2009

What’s inside:

What is Our Purpose?
The DD Act states that
the purpose of State
Councils is to "engage in
advocacy, capacity building, and systemic change
activities that are consistent with the purpose of
the DD Act and; contribute to a coordinated,
consumer and familycentered, consumer and
family-directed, comprehensive system of community services, individualized supports and other
forms of assistance that
enable individuals with
developmental disabilities
to exercise self-

10.01.08-06.30.09

this way, the “customer”
of the service system
plays an important role in
directing Councils’ activities. The DD Act charges
Councils to identify the
most pressing needs of
people with developmental disabilities in their
State or Territory and to
develop innovative and
cost-effective ways to
meet these needs in a
manner that upholds the
human and civil value of
people with developmental disabilities.

Budget

2

Project Search

2

Partners in
Policy Making

2

Smart Card

3

Legislative
Awareness Day

3

Inter
Professional
Awareness Day

3

Goals for
Change

4

GCDD Sunset

4

Page 2

Annual Report 2009

Budget
Cost Categories
$450,000
$400,000
$350,000
$300,000
$250,000
$200,000
$150,000
$100,000
$50,000

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Project SEARCH Arizona
Project SEARCH is focused
on enabling young adults
with disabilities to obtain employment through proper
training. Those high school
students in their senior year,
or adults who may face barriers to employment are eligible. Those participants receive on the job training and
employability skills during 3-4

internships through out the
year long program. Project
SEARCH Arizona is a collaborative partnership among
the following organizations:
Arizona Department of Economic Security, Division of
Developmental Disabilities,
Arizona Rehabilitation Services Administration, Linkages, Pima County Joint

Partners in Policy Making
Twenty years ago, the Minnesota Governor’s Council
on Developmental Disabilities created a groundbreaking, innovative training
program called Partners in
Policymaking to teach parents and self-advocates the
power of advocacy to change
the way people with disabilities are supported, viewed,
taught, live and work. During
the past two decades, impor-

tant issues have been confronted and dramatic
changes have been made.
Partners in Policymaking is
based on the idea that policy
decisions should be made by
people with disabilities and
families in partnership with
each other and elected and
appointed officials. Pilot Parents of Southern Arizona has
been selected to replicate the
Partners in Policymaking pro-

Technological Education District, SAGE Employment &
Community Services, Easter
Seals Blake Foundation, Sonoran University Center of
Excellence in Developmental
Disabilities (UCEDD), Tucson Unified School District,
and the University Physicians
Hospital.

Information provided by:
Project Search Arizona

gram in Arizona. The Arizona program is in it’s 13th
year. The program’s ultimate
outcomes are increased independence, productivity,
integration, inclusion and self
determination for all Partners
participants and their family
members. Graduates of the
Arizona program have made
substantial contributions to
their communities.

GCDD

Page 3

Smart Card
Tri City Partnership, in cooperation with local first responders (Police, Fire and
EMS,) have developed the
First Responder Smart Card
ProgramTM (FRSCP) This
program offers a registration
process, alerting first responders that there is a
Smart Card on site and an
individual with special needs
may be at the registered address. FRSCP includes training for first responders on
special needs, and how to
better recognize and respond
to an individual with special
needs. This program also

provides training for parents
and providers on when to call
first responders and what
happens once the call is
made.
The First Responder Smart
Card ProgramTM can be used
by anyone who has a home
with an individual with any
kind of special needs. Individuals with a mental illness,
physical disability, medical
condition, or any other condition that a first responder
should be aware of can register program.
azcommunityactionteams.org

Inter Professional Training Day
Two hundred and forty medical, nursing, social work,
public health and law students participated in the second Inter-Professional Training Day on Disability sponsored by the Sonoran
UCEDD, College of Medicine
and the GCDD. It was required curriculum for the students of these different University of Arizona colleges.
During the teaching day, the
students first heard a key

note speaker on disability,
followed by a video showing
an adult with a developmental disability - Autism Spectrum Disorder- in her home
environment. The students
then worked together on
case problems involving a
child and an adult. Each
problem identified a nursing,
service system, legal or other
issues that the students had
to collaborate to solve. The
students then debriefed as a

Legislative Awareness Day
The GCDD held their annual
Legislative Awareness Day
on March 10, 2009. The
event hosted sixty participating organizations that setup
various information booths.
In attendance were individuals with developmental disabilities, family members of
individuals with developmental disabilities, legislators,
service providers, selfadvocates, and other mem-

bers of the community. Attendees were able to interact
with legislators, obtain information regarding services
available to individuals with
developmental disabilities,
and share their individual
stories.

large group and shared ideas
and perspectives on working
with people with disabilities.
Participants then heard from a
writer who has a disability and
has written on her experiences
with the health care system.
The evaluations were positive
and for many students this provided one of the first times they
had the opportunity to worked
together with other students
from other disciplines.

"Not everything that is
faced can be changed, but
nothing can be changed
until it is faced."
- James Baldwin

Goals for Change:
Councils are given powerful direction and broad authority to
set priorities in their individual states by the DD Act. Councils work toward public policies that promote several goals
for people with developmental disabilities, including:
Self Determination- Activities that result in individuals with
developmental disabilities having the ability and opportunity
to communicate and make personal decisions, exercise
control over the type and intensity of supports and services
they receive, the authority to control resources, opportunities to participate in and contribute to their communities,
and support to advocate for themselves and others.
Inclusion- Acceptance and encouragement of the presence and participation of individuals with developmental
disabilities, by individuals without disabilities, in social, educational, work, and community activities.
Integration– Exercise of the equal right of individuals with
developmental disabilities to access and use the same
community resources as are available to and used by other
individuals.
“I chose not to place “DIS”,
in my ability.”

GCDD Sunset Information
By Executive Order Governor
Brewer established the Developmental Disabilities Planning Council
(DDPC) on September 3, 2009.
This is the successor organization
to the GCDD which was sunsetted
by the State Legislature and disbanded on July 1, 2009. By that
order, membership of the Council
was reconstituted.

After conducting comprehensive
research and analysis on issues
that affect persons with developmental disabilities, the State Plan
summarizes how services and programs (e.g. employment, health,
housing, recreation, child-care, etc.)
should be structured within the
State of Arizona.

The DDPC was established pursuant to the DD Act of 2000 (Public
Law 106-402). The purpose of the
Council is to engage in advocacy,
capacity building and systemic
change activities for individuals with
developmental disabilities and their
families. The U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, Administration on Developmental Disabilities is the federal administrating
agency.

The essence of the Act is to assure
that individuals with developmental
disabilities and their families participate in the design of, and have access to needed community services, individualized supports and
other forms of assistance that promote self-determination, independence, productivity and integration
and inclusion in all facets of community life.

A primary activity of the Council is
to develop a five-year State Plan.

-Robert M. Hensel

State of Arizona
Developmental Disabilities
Planning Council
3839 North 3rd Street
Suite 306
Phoenix, Arizona 85012
Phone: 602.265.3176
Fax: 602.265.3214
www.azgovernor.gov/DDPC