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What Is Idaho Partners in Policymaking?
Idaho Partners in Policymaking is an innovative leadership development program for adults with developmental disabilities and parents of children with disabilities. Partners receive information, training, resources, and skill-building so they may have the best possible life experiences for themselves and their children. Partners in Policymaking was created in 1986 by Colleen Wieck, Executive Director of the Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities. The program was developed specifically to teach people with disabilities and families of young children with disabilities to:
- Work on long-term change.
- Become active partners with policymakers who will shape policies that impact people with disabilities and families.
- Understand possibilities and how to create them.
Lideramos Juntos
The Idaho Council on Developmental Disabilities has hosted Idaho Partners in Policymaking since 1997. The Council provided interpretation and translation services for Spanish-speaking participants in its 2016, 2018, and 2020 classes. The Council recognized that providing those services did not go far enough to provide a culturally and linguistically competent leadership development program for our Spanish-speaking community members. The Idaho Council reached out to our Utah counterparts to collaborate on developing a leadership program specifically designed to meet the learning needs of the Latino communities in our states.
Together we created Lideramos Juntos! (Together We Lead) that began in February 2024. We have 7 family members from the Burley, Idaho area and 8 family members from the Salt Lake City, Utah area. All participants are primary caregivers to children or adults with intellectual and developmental Disabilities. We have been meeting for two days every other month to provide education and resources presented entirely in Spanish. This is a pilot program, and the current participants are helping to guide what we offer in the future. We are very proud of the leadership of this amazing class.
Training Includes:
- Disability & Stigma
- The Importance of Early Diagnosis and Early Intervention
- Overview of Person-Centered Planning
- How to Access Children’s Developmental Disability Services
- What are the Services and How Does it Work?
- Navigating the Educational Experience
- Language Access Federal Laws, Executive Orders, and Rules and Right to Language
- Advocacy in Action
- Medicaid Basics
- Understanding Your Rights through Disability Laws
- How to Create Your Story
- Supported Decision Making and Guardianship
- How to Get Comfortable with Public Speaking
“This work is supported by a grant from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201 with 100% federal funding award totaling $527,570 (Federal Fiscal Year 2023 Grant No.: 2301IDSCDD-01). Council efforts are those of the grantee and do not necessarily represent the official views of not are endorsed by ACL, HHS, or the U.S. government.”