Opportunities From: The Arc Minnesota & Arc's Value Village

Join one of 3 Arc Regional Quality Councils to help examine and improve services for people with disabilities.  The 3 Regional Quality Councils are located in southeast Minnesota (Olmsted, Wabasha and Houston counties), the Twin Cities (Dakota, Hennepin and Scott counties) and West Central areas (Clay, Grant , Otter Tail, Polk, and Pope counties).

Individuals on the council include:

people with disabilities, their families and alliespeople that work with people with disabilities, such as, case managers, social workers and providers of day programs, residential, and employment servicespeople from different cultures and backgroundspeople from the community that are interested in helping 

Members of the Regional Quality Councils:

research the quality of services for people with disabilities in our area.use information from research and interviews with people with disabilities to learn about what services and changes are needed to improve quality of lifework together to come up with ideas on how to improve or change services based on what we learn.will examine what is working well for people with disabilitiesteach others about best practices 

The councils meet monthly.  They plan and discuss what the councils are currently doing and what they need to do next.  The councils also have smaller work groups to work on projects.  Total time commitment is 2-5 hours per month.  Let us know which council you are interested in connecting with.  We will help you get involved! To sign up, learn more or for staff follow up, complete this form.

Self-Advocacy & Self-Advocacy Ally Support

Self-advocacy is speaking for yourself and the things that are important to you.  It also means having the right to make your own decisions and choices and accepting responsibility for them.  Self-advocacy is used as a name for the civil rights movement for people with intellectial and developmental disabilities (I/DD).  Self-advocacy is part of the broader civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s and is part of the disability rights movement. People who practice self-advocacy are called self-advocates.

Self-advocacy includes understanding your rights and involves self-advocates:Communicating to others what you want and needSetting goals for what you want to achieve and do Making decisions for what is best for you and taking responsibility for your choices Being assertive and standing up for yourself in a respectful way  Getting information to make informed decisions  Finding solutions to problems that affect you  Asking for help and support when you need it 

If you are interested in becoming involved in The Arc's self-advocacy please complete the interest form below.

The 4 components of self-advocacy are:

Person First Many people with I/DD have been treated as less than human (dehumanized) throughout their lives. By saying they are a person first, individuals with I/DD want to be known as more than their disability.  They deserve the same rights and opportunities as people without disabilities.  For this reason, many people with I/DD prefer person-first language.  In person-first language, you say "people with developmental disabilities" or "person with Down syndrome".  The self-advocacy movement is also very against the use of mental retardation, retarded, or any variation as there is a great deal of stigma and discrimination with the term. Self-Determination & Dignity of RiskSelf-determination is the right of all people to make their own choices. Choices are often denied to people with I/DD. People under guardianship do not get to make their own decisions about where they live and how they spend their money.  Self-advocates work for the replacement of guardianship with supported decision making where people can make their own decisions, with support from friends, family or professionals.  Dignity of risk is the idea that everyone has the right to make mistakes and to take risks. Many people with I/DD are stopped from making their own decisions, out of fear that they could make bad decisions. Dignity of risk says that the right to take risks and make mistakes is an essential human right. For example, a person with an intellectual disability could go to college, even if they might have trouble passing their classes. Community Living Community living is the idea people should live in the community and not in institutions. Institutions segregate people away from their homes, families and friends. People with I/DD should receive the supports that they need to live where they want to. This is also a core value of the independent living movement. Equal Employment & EducationSelf-advocates believe people with I/DD and other disabilities deserve the right for equal opportunities in all areas of life, especiallyin  education and employment. Before the self-advocacy movement, many people with intellectual and developmental disabilities were not allowed to attend school. Families had to either keep their children with I/DD at home or send them to an institution.  Institutions were supposed to provide education. Institutions specifically for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities were called state schools. However, the education provided was insufficient or nonexistent. These "schools" turned into warehouses, full of abuse and neglect. In 1975, President Gerald Ford signed the Education for Handicapped Children Act (now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). This law entitles all children to receive a free and appropriate public education (FAPE). The law requires schools to provide students with accommodations and support to attend school. The least restrictive environment clause means that students must be, whenever possible, educated in mainstream classrooms with their non-disabled peers. Despite this, many people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are segregated in special education classrooms and not given the accommodations they need to succeed.  Unfortunately, this segreagation also occurs in employment.

If you wish to learn more or become a part of The Arc's Self-Advocacy program, please complete this form here.  We'll be in touch soon!

Do you love creating:

social media postswriting blogsdoing podcasts updating websitesgraphic designother creative things? 

Come help The Arc with its branding and messaging.  Pictures are worth a thousand words.  Stories tell your truth and together they can share the lived experience of people with disabilities.  We are always looking for creatives who can support our messaging to create inclusive communities.  Time commitment is only a few hours a month. For more information or for staff follow up, click here.

The Minnesota Inclusion Initiative

The self-advocacy movement has helped people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) understand their human and civil rights, learn about public policy, and share personal stories.  In spite of this training and skill-building, people with I/DD are still fighting to overcome a history of segregation in institutional settings.  They also face many barriers in securing employment, accessing transportation, fulfilling their right to vote, and being respected as equal members of society.

Together, we can ensure  people with I/DD are actively & meaningfully included in their communities, and support self-advocates in overcoming systemic barriers to inclusion. 

By establishing microgrants for self-advocacy groups statewide, the Minnesota Inclusion Initiative will support people with I/DD in organizing community-based projects that:

raise awareness about barriers to inclusion address obstacles to employment, transportation, housing, accessibility, and voting; increase engagement of self-advocates in their communities promote and protect the human rights of Minnesotans with I/DD.

Supporting the Minnesota Inclusion Initiative will help ensure that people with intellectual & developmental disabilities are meaningfully included in all communities.  Come join us!  Learn more or for staff follow up, click here.