What's New

• Council to sponsor a "Town Meeting" in Vancouver September 25
• Volunteers Sought for Two Core Indicators Review Panels
• Council Member Recruitment
• Council Request for Proposal (RFP) Notification Change
• Volunteers Sought to Review Grant Proposals
• New Council Podcasts Provide Information about the Council in a Video Format 
• DDC's New E-Newsletter Keeps You Up-to-Date
• New DDD Planned Action Notice Flyer on Informing Families Website
• DDC 2007 Progress Report Available Online

Council to sponsor a "Town Meeting" in Vancouver September 25
The Council will sponsor a town meeting in Vancouver on September 25 at the Vancouver Hilton Hotel.  The meeting will be  a chance to share concerns developmental disabilities issues and to identify systemic changes that can make a difference.  The meeting will begin at 7:00 pm.  More information is available on the Town Meeting Flyer. 

Volunteers Sought for Two Core Indicators Review Panels
The Council is looking for volunteers to serve on two review panels being formed to review Washington State's National Core Indicators survey data.  The National Core Indicators survey measures the quality of services received by individuals with developmental disabilities in participating states.  One panel will focus on services received by children with developmental disabilities.  Panel participants on this panel can be:

• Family members of a child with developmental disabilities receiving services from DDD
• Adults with developmental disabilities receiving services through DDD (self-advocates)
• Service providers for children with developmental disabilities

A second Core Indicators Review Panel will look at the results of two years of face-to-face surveys of adults with developmental disabilities.  This survey is open only to adults with developmental disabilities. The panel will review this data on October 1 and October 2 at SeaTac.   More details are available on the Core Indicator Face-to-Face Adult Survey Panel Member Application form. 

New Requests for Proposals Announced

The Washington State DD Council is funding two projects to achieve performance targets in the Council’s 2007-2011 State Plan.  The Council will fund project(s) totaling $68,600. 

Project(s) will run from September 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009. 

One project proposal is to fund production of 4 video podcasts, 2 informational DVD’s, and a DD Assessment Tool for people with developmental disabilities under the Informing Families, Building Trust Grant. (Podcast, DVD and DD Assessment Tool RFP)

A second proposal is targeted to implement the expanded Informing Families Building Trust website.  (IFBT Website Implementation RFP)

Attendance at the planned Bidder’s Conference is strongly recommended. For more information contact Jodi Honeysett by phone at 1-800-634-4473 or by email. The full application packets are available by contacting Jodi as well.

Council RFP Notification Change
Effective June 1, 2008, the Council will be notifying organizations interested in developing projects via email.  To have your organization notified when there are new proposals, please complete the information below, please send your name, your organization's name, email and phone number to the DD Council.

Volunteers Sought to Review Grant Proposals
The Council is looking for individuals who are interested in reviewing grant proposals.  Qualified individuals should be:

• Over the age of 19
• Should have personal and/or professional experience with disability issues or specific knowledge of the best practices or
• Be able to represent groups of people who are typically underrepresented in Council activities

The Council is hoping to develop a pool of individuals who can be contacted when proposals need to be reviewed.  The Council's next review is scheduled for the beginning of July when we will be reviewing proposals focused on inclusion and transportation.

If you are interested in volunteering for the upcoming review cycles or just wish to be included for future grant reviews, email the Council with your name and organization and we will contact you. 

Council Member Recruitment Extended
The Council has extended its recruitment period until July 31.  We are looking for just the right candidates, and it could be you!  For this recruitment we are looking for an individual with developmental disabilities and a parent/guardian living in Okanogan, Chelan, Douglas, Kittitas, Grant, Yakima, Klickitat, Benton, Franklin, Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield, Whitman, Adams or Lincoln County.  For more information contact Linda Walling by phone at 1-800-634-4473 or by email.  Or you can go to our Become a Member page for application materials.

New Council Podcasts Provide Information about the Council in a Video Format
The Council has produced two podcasts to explain what the Council does and how to apply to become a member.  The videos are located at our Cool Stuff section. 

DDC Starts New E-Newsletter
The Developmental Disabilities Council has started a new E-Newsletter called "The Catalyst". The newsletter contains projects, upcoming activities and stories of interest.  Publication is planned for every other month you can sign up to be added to our E-Newsletter Mailing List or go to our Publications Page to read the current issues or

Informing Families Building Trust Has New Email Notice
The Informing Families/Building Trust website has just posted a new Email Notice regarding the Division of Developmental Disabilities Planned Action Notices.  This new notice describes what Planned Action Notices are and what families need to do when they receive them.  To read the newest notice, go to the website's Email Notice page.

DDC 2007 Annual Progress Report Available Online
The 2007 Annual Progress Report is available for viewing and download.  The report highlights Council accomplishment during 2007. 

Cool Stuff

Here's where we keep "the really good" stuff - things the Council and others in the developmental disabilities community are doing that's worth a look. Here's some of the latest:

COUNCIL VIDEOS

This video is about the Washington State Developmental Disabilities Council and what it does.

This video is about why it's cool to be a Council member

ADVOCACY MATTERS

Advocacy Matters is a new series of videos highlighting the achievements of self-advocates are on the Informing Family/Building Trust website.  The Informing Families website helps families stay informed about changes the Division of Developmental Disabilities is making that may affect them.   You can get a sneak peek at the videos in the series below:

Heather's Story

Emily's Story

OTHER COOL STUFF

The Arc of Washington hosts podcasts during legislative session that help keep you up-to-date.  Some of the videos are interesting even after legislative session because they help explain how laws and policy change happen.  You can scout out what they've done at the Olympia Insider webpage.