Advocating Beyond Legislative Session: Building Avenues for Change

Featuring Shelley Spivey Being an active advocate isn’t just about protesting, working on legislation, or contacting your representative. It starts small in moments and opportunities that reveal themselves to you daily. It’s about having meaningful, connected conversations with the people

How to Fully Fund the NOW/COMP Waivers Waiting List over the Next Five Years

Featuring Georgia Senator Sally Harrell The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities recently sat down with Senator Sally Harrell (D-40) to discuss Senate Bill 208 that proposes to fully fund the NOW/COMP Waivers waiting list which is currently over 7,000+. As

Making Competitive, Integrated Employment a Reality

GCDD interviewed Amy Gonzalez, Project Manager for the Administration on Disabilities (AoD) Disability Employment Technical Assistance, to discuss the ways competitive, integrated employment is becoming a reality for people with disabilities across the country, why employers need to get on

Going Back to School

For students with intellectual/developmental disabilities (I/DD), I don’t think we’ll be able to find many students that haven’t typically had some negative impact around their education for the past two years during the COVID-19 disruptions. For many students, especially if

GCDD: Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities

Let’s Talk About Advocacy

Featuring Nandi Isaac, Self-Advocate & GCDD Council Member Nandi Isaac, self-advocate and GCDD council member; and Eric Jacobson, executive director of GCDD sat down for a virtual interview on what advocacy means and how it helped the disability community during

How COVID-19 Affected People with Disabilities and Direct Support Professionals

Erin Rachel Vinoski Thomas, PhD, MPH, Director of Health and Wellness at Georgia State University’s Center for Leadership in Disability, sat down with Making A Difference to share the findings of her research on how COVID-19 affected people with disabilities

Graphic of a man in a wheelchair in a workspace shaking hands with another coworker.

Keeping Employment First

The following is an edited excerpt from the Expert Update interview led by the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) on employment for people with disabilities. Kate Brady: There have been tremendous budget cuts in Georgia, which have resulted in

Banner with teal on the left and photo of Ron Wakefield on the right.

An Interview with Ron Wakefield

Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities Chairman Parker Glick interviewed Ron Wakefield, director of the Division of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities under the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) about the state of developmental disabilities services for Georgians

Photo of a Direct Support Professional with her client, who is a wheelchair user.

The Direct Support Professional Workforce Crisis

One of the most concerning issues affecting people with developmental disabilities, their families and communities right now is the state of the direct support professional (DSP) workforce, commonly called “the DSP crisis.” The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is