Texas county forms coalition to serve citizens with intellectual and developmental disabilities

From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

FORT WORTH, Texas — More than 80 community leaders have formed a coalition intended to better serve an estimated 100,000 county residents with autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and similar conditions.

The Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities Needs Council of Tarrant County will begin meeting in January, leaders of state and local governments, school districts, and health and advocacy groups announced Nov. 9.

Members of the council are expected to identify areas that need improved services, said Richard Garnett, executive director of The Arc of Greater Tarrant County, who spearheaded the discussion. These areas include transportation, aging, healthcare and the labor market.

The council will also work to increase public understanding of such conditions and spread the message that these individuals can contribute to the county, Garnett said. It will also try to generate more money to support programs for people with such disabilities.

By working as a team, Garnett said, community organizers can make resources more attainable to them.

"We can be much stronger [as a coalition] than if we act as an individual to create an environment where persons [with disabilities] can move forward and be productive members of society," said Jim McDermott, CEO of Mental Health/Mental Retardation of Tarrant County.

Garnett and Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley urged everyone at the luncheon, held at the Botanic Garden’s Oak Hall Room, to pledge their commitment by signing a card of support.

The most moving moment of the luncheon, though, was the speech by Kimberly Blackmon, a young woman with Down syndrome who was appointed to the Texas Council on Developmental Disabilities by Gov. Rick Perry.

Blackmon received a standing ovation when she told the coalition: "I am one of those people in Tarrant County who want you to be successful in your goals. What is success? Success is when my friends and I can have jobs and fun and can do things that everyone in town likes to do."