Statewide Need
The Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities—in partnership with agencies, advocacy groups, parent organizations, and other groups at the state and local level—creates avenues for systems change and advocacy through direct demonstration of promising and best practices, structured training, and support of innovative programs. Structured educational programs such as Partners in Policymaking provide opportunities for strengthening advocacy skills, broadening understanding of issues and trends, disseminating current knowledge, networking, and facilitating the creation of new ways of thinking and planning.
Project Goal
Provide a Partners in Policymaking program for adults with developmental disabilities (DD) and parents of young children with DD to explore disability issues, best practices, and the policymaking and legislative processes, to strengthen self-advocacy skills and to increase personal empowerment.
Project Summary
This project was proposed to continue the nationally recognized excellence of the Texas Partners program by following the partners’ replication model. Partners in Policymaking is a leadership training project that started in Texas in August 1990. It was designed for adults with DD and parents of young children with DD. Participants were to be selected from across the state and meet two days a month for eight months. They would explore disability issues, best practices, and the policymaking and legislative processes, to strengthen self-advocacy skills and to increase personal empowerment. The project was meant to increase the ability of participants to interact with public officials, to influence public policy, and to obtain the most appropriate state-of-the-art services for themselves and others.
Project Period
Jul 2001 – May 2004
Contact
16255 Park Ten Pl. #500
Houston, TX 77084
713-466-6304
Website
Geographic Reach
Statewide