Advocacy

Adult Advocacy

Lee Ray is an advocate with The Arc of Arapahoe and Douglas. Lee specializes in assisting adults with developmental disabilities and their families.

Adult advocacy services can include any or all of the following: information about housing, jobs, social security, guardianship, respite, friendships, and community connections.

Through consultation by telephone or personal interviews Lee can assist individuals in accessing services like: residential, vocational, Social Security, or Medicaid. Lee can also provide individual representation through attendance at meetings with family and or individuals. He can also monitor services delivered through service provider agencies and provide information on public policy issues and systems advocacy information to empower families and individuals regarding their rights. He can offer support for the development of self advocacy skills and/or reinforce family members to be effective advocates.

The goal of adult advocacy is to help ensure a high quality of life for individuals with developmental disabilities in housing, jobs, community participation, and all services provided to the individual.

For more information call Lee Ray at (303) 220-9228 or email lee@arcarapahoedouglas.org.

Child Advocacy

Cg La Scala is our Director of Advocacy and has worked for The Arc of Arapahoe & Douglas since 1983. She works primarily with families who have children with disabilities. She is a former classroom and special education teacher who taught for eleven years before moving to Colorado . Once in Colorado , she spent several years with Developmental Pathways serving adults with developmental disabilities and mental illness in program management. These valuable and rich experiences have given Cg a great sense of the practical application of state and federal laws in advocating for people with disabilities. Parents who have children with disabilities have said things like:

“I'm so very glad you could make it to our meeting. You're wonderful asking the team many difficult and tough questions. My husband and I really appreciate your support in getting our daughter a device that will support her communication.”

Cg can offer support in the following areas:

• Information, counseling and guidance, training, education, and support regarding public school special education for Individual Education Programs (IEPs), therapies, transportation, transitions, etc.
• Education, support, and guidance regarding Social Security benefits, SSI, Medicare, Medicaid, Waiver Programs, appeals, etc.
• Family Support referrals/applications, adult services referrals/applications, appeals, etc.
• 504/ADA complaints
• Outreach and educational presentations on IEPs, parent rights, goal and objective writing, The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Colorado education laws, 504, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), functional behavior analysis and Positive Behavior Support Plans, disability categories under IDEA and applicability to laws beyond school, and eligibility criteria for adults and students

If you would like to visit with Cg to see if she could assist with a need of yours, please contact her at The Arc of Arapahoe & Douglas by phone at (303) 220-9228 or email at cglascala@msn.com.

Systems Advocacy

Carol Meredith is our Executive Director and has worked for The Arc of Arapahoe & Douglas since 1998. She works primarily in advocacy efforts that change systems in a way that assist people with disabilities to live rich, full lives in their communities. We monitor legislation on state and national levels that affect people with disabilities and take every opportunity to educate legislators on ways that they can assist to enhance quality of life for our members and their families. We work with many other organizations in our community including: Sister Chapters of The Arc, Community Centered Boards, The Douglas County Advisory Committee, Parent to Parent of Colorado , Family Voices, and Early Childhood Connections of Arapahoe & Douglas.

The most pressing issues related to systems change for people with cognitive developmental disabilities continue to be: long waiting lists to access supports and services for both children and adults, a general perception in the community that children and adults with disabilities belong in special places for special people, adequate training for staff that support people with disabilities, lack of focus on fixing the long-term care system, and the need for consumer/family directed services and supports.

The Arc of Arapahoe & Douglas is a membership organization and we know that we are stronger when we stand together. Therefore we make every effort to keep people with disabilities and their family members informed about changes in public policy that could affect their lives for better or for worse. People with disabilities and their families are educated about the issues through our monthly newsletter and a legislative email tree. We also facilitate periodic workshops where people can learn how to contact their legislators and assist in their education.

For more information about Systems Advocacy and how you can participate, please contact Carol by phone at (303) 220-9228 or email at carol@arcarapahoedouglas.org.

The Arc of Arapahoe & Douglas- 7430 E Caley Ave, Suite 130, Centennial, CO 80111 303-220-9228