Developmental Disabilities State Planning Council

Total public members:           9        

Method of Appointment:       Appointed by Mayor        

Length of Appointment:        3 years

Residency:                              District residency required

Paid board:                             No (all roles are voluntary)

Description:

The DD Council is a standing committee of the DC Commission on Persons with Disabilities. The DD Council shall advise and assist the Commission in identifying and addressing issues related to children, adults and older persons with developmental disabilities and their families; develop and produce a Developmental Disabilities State Plan in accordance with the requirements of the federal Act; engage in advocacy, capacity building, and systemic change activities that are consistent with the purposes of the federal Act; assure that, to the extent possible, the State Plan aligns with, complements, and is incorporated within the Commission’s strategic plan; participate fully in the work of the Commission by promoting collaboration and coordination among appropriate public and nonprofit organizations in ways that build and continuously improve on a coordinated, consumer-and-family-centered, consumer-and-family-directed system of supports and assistance that enable individuals with developmental disabilities to exercise self-determination, as independent, productive, integrated community members; submit through the Commission, ODR, and the Mayor, periodic reports on the DD Council's activities to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, including a report by January 1 of each year on the activities carried out during the preceding year with Federal Assistance on State Developmental Councils Grant Funds, and keep and afford access to those records; and undertake other activities to advance the mission of the Commission.

Membership:

The DD Council, including the members jointly serving on the Commission, shall consist of 23 members appointed by the Mayor. 

Nine (9) members of the DD Council shall be consumer members and shall be appointed as follows:

A. Three (3) shall be persons with developmental disabilities
B. Three (3) shall be parents, guardians or immediate relatives of persons with developmental disabilities (collectively, “representatives”)
C. Three (3) shall be a combination of persons with developmental disabilities and their representatives

At least one (1) of the DD Council consumer members shall be an immediate relative or guardian of an institutionalized or previously institutionalized person with a developmental disability OR shall be an individual with a developmental disability who resides or previously resided in an institution.

None of the DD Council consumer members shall be employees of a District government agency that receives funds or provides services under the Federal Assistance to State DD Councils grant program, managing employees of any other entity which receives such funds or provides such services, or persons with an ownership or controlling interest with respect to any such other entity.

Six (6) of the DD Council shall be general members, who shall be appointed by the Mayor from at least one (1) of each of the following:

A. Providers of services to persons with disabilities
B. A representative of DDS
C. The District’s Protection and Advocacy Organization
D. The District’s designated University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities
E. Local and non-governmental agencies or private non-profit groups concerned with services for individuals with developmental disabilities in the District

Members shall be appointed to terms of three (3) years, except that of the first appointed members, one-third shall be appointed for a term of one (1) year, one-third for a term of two (2) years, and one-third for a term of three (3) years. The date on which a majority is sworn in shall serve as the anniversary date for all subsequent appointments. Should a vacancy occur through death, incapacity, or resignation of a member, the Mayor shall appoint a successor to complete the unexpired term.

The Mayor shall appoint one Chairperson of the DD Council, who shall serve in that capacity at the pleasure of the Mayor and who shall sit on the Commission, but may not chair the Commission.