Spring Forward

Last month, Alliance, a statewide association of Community Centered Boards (CCBs) and Service Provider Organizations (SPOs) hosted its Annual Developmental Disabilities Awareness Day at the Colorado State Capitol. One of the highlights of the day was the reading of a resolution, in both the House and the Senate, recognizing persons with developmental disabilities as well as those who provide services to members of that community.

Click here to see some video from the House reading of the resolution (which starts at the 28.06 mark).

There are several things that stuck out in my mind as various state leaders spoke after the reading of the resolution.

The first thing I noticed was that this resolution represented a true moment of bipartisanship. Representatives from both sides of the aisle agreed that there is a shared responsibility to serve some of our community’s most vulnerable citizens. In this day and age of huge political divides, it was refreshing to see this moment of unity. And for anyone who has been following Colorado legislative issues this session, with so many contentious issues being discussed, it is clear that these moments of unity are few and far between.

There was also a very visible and vocal recognition among legislators that Colorado has fallen short in the goal of protecting individuals with intellectual disabilities in the past, as evidenced by our ranking of 47th nationwide in terms of fiscal effort toward services for this population.

And speaking of recognition, it was very nice to hear legislative tributes to our current community-based system. That system has been under fire from some circles lately, but I appreciate hearing that our state leaders recognize the genuine value that comes from communities that are allowed to lead the way in providing services to their local citizens.

Best of all, I don’t think that the resolution reading and speech making was just lip service. We are truly in the midst of one of the biggest forward movements in our state in quite some time in terms of serving people with developmental disabilities. Beginning with Governor Hickenlooper’s 2013-2014 proposed budget through today, we have seen many positive funding changes coming from our state leadership after years of cuts.

There is much more work to do, but I want to acknowledge the good things that have occurred recently, and thank those who have worked so hard to make these positive forward steps possible. There is much to be excited about.

Then again, what do I know?