2018/2019 State Grantee: The District of Columbia Association of Special Education on behalf of the DC Family Support Council (not funded by NRC-SDM)
- Summary: The DC Family Support Council (FSC) led an effort to create and pilot a SDM structure for people served by the Department of Disability Services and DC Office of Aging. This adapted and rolled out SDM educational materials to community partners and the other DC government agencies that serve youth with I/DD, older adults, and families. The FSC served as a convener and facilitator to bring together stakeholders to guide the process of crafting a structure for SDM and the roll-out at key agencies. This included sharing best practices and designing training for people with disabilities, families, community providers, and state staff. The FSC convened focus groups to get broad input into opportunities and perceived barriers to SDM, so that everyone (youth, adults, older adults with disabilities, family members, service providers, and state staff) could play a significant role in designing the trainings and SDM roll-out. This project used NRC-SDM technical assistance for support in: creating a plan for introducing SDM and developing a replicable structure; designing a training of trainers; developing guiding conversations to engage organizations and partners (i.e., banks, health care providers, etc.); and learning how to talk to stakeholders about SDM, how to choose supporters and how to inform “gatekeepers” in the community.
- NRC-SDM State Community of Practice DC Project: Final Report (August 30, 2019)
- DC Family Support Council DC Agencies Project Products
- Molly Whalen, Executive Director, DC Association for Special Education, mwhalen@dcase.org, 202-615-3070