Good News and Success Stories

May 2023

Happy Spring! It has been an incredible few months for The Arc of North Carolina. Our staff continues to work hard advocating for several changes to legislation at the state and federal levels that would benefit people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families. 

Our 2022-23 Legislative Agenda includes many requests, including increasing wages for direct support professionals (DSPs) and their supervisors and funding 25% of the Innovations Waiver wait list each year until it is empty. We had a phenomenal legislative breakfast in February with many legislators in attendance. They were very supportive of our efforts and made an announcement. Drum roll….. the Legislative I/DD Caucus would re-convene to review issues affecting people with I/DD! The caucus is made up of many I/DD champions and we are looking forward to meeting with them. 

In April, a team representing The Arc of North Carolina staff and board members traveled to Washington, DC to meet with several US House of Representatives staff and the US Senators for North Carolina. The team discussed issues related to housing, workforce development for DSPs, and the importance of supporting the I/DD community. The team was able to make some excellent connections and a plan to follow up with legislators on our issues. 

We were very excited to learn that North Carolina self-advocates, Ray Hemachandra and his son, Nicholas, were invited to the White House to attend a bill signing by President Biden! The event took place in the Rose Garden with several self-advocates and their families in attendance, along with representatives from The Arc of the United States. 

There is still much work to be done and we need your support. Take a look at our latest Action Alert to learn how you can get involved.

Visit our website to learn more about our legislative issues and how you can get involved.