One of our time-honored beliefs at the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is “no numbers without stories, no stories without numbers.” It’s not enough for us to present data, nor is it enough to tell great compelling stories. To make the kinds of social and policy changes GCDD is charged with, you must do both. Since becoming Executive Director of GCDD this past fall, I’ve spent a lot of time focused on the work of the state Senate Study Committee – formally known as the Senate Study Committee on People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and Waiver Plan Acce...

D'Arcy Robb, Executive Director of GCDD I was one of those college students who had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up. So, after graduation day, I worked a variety of different jobs. I was a childcare worker at a provider agency working with troubled youth. I worked on a political campaign, then did public relations for a community recreation center, then was a television producer. Meanwhile, in my down time I developed a mild obsession with purpose-driven career development. I can’t tell you how many times I took aptitude tests and re-read “What Color is Your Parachute?” ...

People not only showed up at the capitol with GCDD during the 2023 legislative session, but they also sent a powerful message to legislators. I’m so grateful because to me that’s the “special sauce” of our DD Council – that we are governed by people with I/DD and family members who are committed to making a difference. They are the driving force.  GCDD has hosted Advocacy Days at the Georgia state capitol during the legislative session for many years. During Advocacy Days, elected leaders meet face-to-face with people with I/DD and their families. This year over 300 people registered...

At the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD), we are always driven by our overarching values, and specifically by our public policy agenda. As we gear up to head into another legislative session in 2024, I want to take time to reflect on the wins in 2023 before we call on our advocates and community to continue the work in 2024.  In 2023, we were excited to have a big win with waivers. This is important for the ultimate goal of getting to the root of the problem which is to end the waiver waiting list. We also had a big win for Inclusive Post-Secondary Education (IPSE)...

Darcy Robb, GCDD Executive DirectorDid you know that 50 years ago, most kids with disabilities didn’t go to school? In 1970, schools here in the United States educated only 1 out of 5 kids with disabilities.  So what happened to the 4 out of 5? Often, children were sent to live in institutions. Which sounds like a dystopian nightmare, but it’s a nightmare that was reality. It was considered ‘normal’ for babies with disabilities to be taken from their families and grow up in facilities.  Some families bucked the system. When the great disability activist Judy Heumann was a chil...

Headshot of D'Arcy Robb, GCDD's Executive Director As I sit down to write this, I’m feeling raw. We just wrapped up Georgia’s General Assembly session, and it was a real mix of wins and losses. Win – the developmental disability (DD) rate study. All summer, fall, and winter long, we at the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) worked in tandem with multiple other organizations to press the case for why a rate increase was so critically needed. Thank all that is good – it worked. “You all did a good job making the case,” a person deep inside the state budget process told me...

D'Arcy Robb, GCDD Executive Director“Honey, those are sopping wet,” I said as my daughter carried in the Halloween decorations the day before Hurricane Helene. “Go hang them in the laundry room to dry.” A few minutes later, she called, “Mom, the floor in here is wet already.” Oh boy. Those are words you never want to hear. It was the beginning of Hurricane Helene and the flood in our basement.  Thankfully, my family is safe, my home is standing, and my power is on. Without it, our damage would have been so much worse. For all of that, I am incredibly lucky. And yet – I’m not going t...

D'Arcy Robb, GCDD Executive Director  What were you doing in 1999? I graduated from high school. Interestingly, Georgia self-advocates Lois Curtis and Elaine Wilson were making history.  You may or may not know their stories. Lois and Elaine both had disabilities. They spent years cycling in and out of Georgia’s state hospitals and institutions. Clinical care teams working for the state of Georgia agreed that Lois and Elaine should be served in the community rather than in institutions. However, supports were unavailable in the community then, and Lois and Elaine remained in sta...

And this year, I have had the pleasure and opportunity to be at Advocacy Days as the new Executive Director of GCDD.  One of the great privileges of being a DD council is we're charged with advocacy system change and capacity building. And we do a lot of that in our advocacy, which we try to involve everybody who wants to be involved.  And for GCDD holding this annual event, we're making connections or supporting the connection between citizens and legislators.  I think this is magical. The three Advocacy Days GCDD hosted this year were fantastic. We found that legislator...