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New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities

FY-08 Update of the 2007-11 Five Year Plan

OUTCOMES AND OBJECTIVES

PURPOSE

To apply its unique resources for culturally competent advocacy, capacity building, and systemic change activity to assure that individuals with developmental disabilities and their families are full participants in the design of and have access to needed community services, individual supports, and other forms of assistance that support self-determination, independence, productivity, integration and inclusion in all facets of community life.

VISION

All individuals with developmental disabilities are contributing members of their neighborhoods and communities; make real choices and have control over their own lives; have the freedom to strive, excel, and make mistakes; are in a position to achieve personal goals, are in a position to affect policy and process decisions that affect their lives; and have the same rights, privileges, responsibilities, and opportunities of citizenship as does any other New Jersey resident.

Overall Premise

Services and needed supports which are generally available to all Individuals must be available to Individuals with developmental disabilities as well.  Services and supports for Individuals with developmental disabilities must be developed and delivered in a manner which shows a sensitivity to the cultural beliefs and practices of the person receiving them.  The relationship between education, work, housing and transportation on the overall independence, productivity and integration of Individuals with developmental disabilities cannot be underplayed, and must be reflected in the overall design of services and supports. Finally, the role of Individuals with developmental disabilities as self-advocates within the political process is a critical element of any overall approach to attaining integration, independence and productivity.

To reach its vision, the Council selected the following outcomes and objectives for the five-year period from October, 20007 through September 2011. This FY-08 Update document revises that original plan to reflect progress and change.

New Jersey Developmental Disabilities Council     

Chairperson :                Elaine Buchsbaum

Vice-Chair:                    Lorraine D’Sylva Lee

Executive Director:       Alison Lozano, Ph.D., MPA

What are Developmental Disabilities ?

Developmental Disability  means a significant, chronic disability of an individual that…

(A) is attributable to a mental or physical impairment or combination of mental and physical impairments;

(B) is manifested before the individual attains age 22;

(C) is likely to continue indefinitely;

(D) results in substantial functional limitations in three or more of the following areas of major life activity

(i) self‑care;

(ii) receptive and expressive language;

(iii) learning;

(iv) mobility;

(v) self‑direction;

(vi) capacity for independent living; and

(vii) economic self‑sufficiency; and

(E) reflects the individual's need for a combination and sequence of special, interdisciplinary, or generic services, individualized supports, or other forms of assistance that is of lifelong or extended duration and is individually planned and coordinated, except that such term, when applied to infants and young children means individuals from birth to age 9, inclusive, who have substantial developmental delay or specific congenital or acquired conditions with a high probability of resulting in developmental disabilities if services are not provided.