Priorities
The Center has four urgent goals
1. Organize a statewide Parents Network to mobilize and give voice to primary caregivers of family members with disabilities. Parents can best advocate for their own, but few have the time or resources. The Network designs strategies for legislative awareness and support for what is now a practically invisible community.
2. Survey consumers, parents, and caregivers for recommendations to improve life opportunities for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
3. Accelerate the legislature’s $1.4 billion budget approval for persons with developmental disabilities and the Regional Center system responsible for supporting them by one year. It is essential to increase compensation for the workers in whose care the state places its trust and responsibility for training and supervising adults in the local workforce.
4. Develop partnerships with private employers and nonprofits to develop sustainable jobs for adults seeking self-reliance and independence to complement public support.