by Carol Britton Laws, PhD, MSW, FAAIDD One of the most concerning issues affecting people with developmental disabilities, their families and communities right now is the state of the direct support professional (DSP) workforce, commonly called “the DSP crisis.” The Georgia Council on...

by Shannon Turner, Photographer Haylee Fucini-Lenkey Once or twice a week in the summer, Jack Clark’s family loads up a couple of bags with ice water, pretzels and watermelon and heads down to the Little River Marine Center to hop on a boat rental and reconnect with their inner happy place on...

It’s almost spring, and Martha Haythorn is trying to decide where to go to school. She’s already been accepted to Georgia Tech, but she’s waiting to hear back from Clemson University before making her decision. “I am graduating and going to college,” said Haythorn, a 20-year-old from Decatur....

Ten years ago, the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities’ (GCDD) Real Communities Partnerships began with a goal to partner with local groups that worked to support communities who welcomed all to the table and recognized and utilized everyone’s gifts and skills. Real Communities was...

This spring, the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) will kick off planning for its next Five Year Strategic Plan that will lay the framework for the Council’s work from 2022-2026. The Five Year Strategic Plan determines how the Council will allocate funding to create systems...

Federal Disability Policy Updates by Alison Barkoff and Erin Shea, Center for Public Representation COVID-19 Response: Congressional Response: Congress has already passed three bills in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The first was an emergency funding bill. The second bill, Families First...

Viviana Fernandez purchased a home in Snellville when her son, Cameron, was entering the first grade. Shortly after enrolling him at Britt Elementary, she received a call advising that he be moved to a separate school for kids with disabilities. The school continued to call her for minor...

Over 650 disability advocates registered to attend the 2020 GCDD Advocacy Days at the Georgia State Capitol – making it the biggest series the DD Council has hosted since inception of the initiative. Hosted by the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) in January, February and...

From the initial fact-finding process to the end result, leaders in the disability community are giving a big thumbs-down to the new Georgia voting booths as election season is here. While the Georgia primary election has been rescheduled to June 9 due to the COVID-19 outbreak; and the Secretary...

At the time of this writing, the world has come to a standstill because of COVID-19. Over 10,000 Americans have lost their lives to this illness, and hundreds of thousands are sick. People with disabilities who experience health-related issues such as heart, lung or kidney disease need to take...