Funding Opportunity Announced During DDAM 2022

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How Organizations Can Help GCDD Reach Its Goals By Jon Taylor

Every other year, the Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities develops and distributes Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for its Competitive Grant Program. Any RFPs must be specifically designed to achieve the goals and objectives of the Council’s Five-Year State Plan. The Plan has three goals:

People with developmental disabilities and their families will be active in advocacy activities that improve their lives, and the lives of others and the service system.
People with developmental disabilities and their families will have improved access to community supports and services.
The Council will support projects to improve the competitive, integrated employment of Arkansans with developmental disabilities.

The RFP program has an application process that begins with the submission of a grant proposal. The competitive nature of these grants requires extensive vetting of all applications. All proposals are scored and reviewed by staff and the Council’s State Plan and Implementation Committee. The RFPs that best align with the Goals and values of the Council are awarded funding.

The full process can be found at Apply for Funding | Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities (arkansas.gov). That page has all the information needed to complete the application. However, there are a few things that any applicants should be aware of. The first two come up during every RFP cycle. But the third item is new this year.

Once awarded, the grants are issued through reimbursement. An organization does not get the funding up-front in a lump sum.
These are not grants for individual people! Any funding, aligned with our goals, is to be used to help as many Arkansans with an IDD as possible.
An eligible RFP applicant cannot be paying anyone subminimum wage. This includes staff and program participants. Funded organizations or agencies must be aligned with GCDD Arkansas’ values of inclusion, integration, and independence. This includes paying working Arkansans at least minimum wage.

We look forward to reviewing all proposals! Please contact us at DDCStaff@dfa.arkansas.gov or 501-682-2897 with any questions on the process. GCDD Arkansas grant opportunities are listed on https://www.ddsuite.org/ .

Jon Taylor

Jon Taylor is the Executive Director of the Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities Arkansas. He joined Council staff in August of 2021. Prior to that, Jon was a retail field manager with a decade of successful experience in competitive, integrated employment. Over the last several years Jon has taken a progressively larger role in promoting disability inclusion in Arkansas. He is currently the Co-Chair of Disability: In Arkansas and is the Chair of the State Rehabilitation Council. In 2018 Jon was the recipient of the Distinguished Leadership Award for his work promoting and advocating the inclusion of Arkansas with disabilities into the workplace and community. Jon and his wife live in Conway; they have three children.

About the Arkansas Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities

The Council is a federally funded state agency that promotes integration, inclusion and independence for Arkansans with developmental disabilities. Council members are self-advocates, relatives and/or caregivers of individuals with DD, state agency directors, and representation from nonprofit and private organizations. The Council works to encourage self-advocacy; to remove barriers to information, services and support; to advocate for policy changes; to develop and support coalitions; and to educate community leaders. For more information about the Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities and its mission, browse more pages on this website GCDD.arkansas.gov, or call 501-682-2897. Follow the Council on Facebook and Twitter @gcddar. You can also find Arkansas GCDD on YouTube.