Florida Developmental Disabilities Council

06/19/2026

FL SAND Fellows LeQuina Knox and Chatequa Pinkston visited with Florida State Representative Fentrice Driskell during DD Day 2026, sharing the importance of advocacy, connection, and strengthening support for Floridians with developmental disabilities.

06/19/2026

FL SAND Fellows prepared to present during a breakout session at the 28th Annual Family Café on June 13, 2026.

Their presentation highlighted leadership, lived experience, and the power of peer-to-peer learning.

06/19/2026

FL SAND Fellows led learners through the Route to Self-Determination Workshop in Orlando on June 11, 2026, sharing tools and strategies that support choice, confidence, and self-advocacy.

Through an interactive role-play activity, Fellows brought learning to life and helped participants explore real-world ways to speak up and make decisions.

06/19/2026

One of the persistent challenges for individuals with I/DD and their families is locating reliable, clear, and timely information about available services.

To address this challenge, FDDC continued building a Statewide Access to Services Information System, gathering information and developing tools to help families find and use resources across all life stages.

Key achievements included compiling resources from all 15 Family Care Council geographic areas, creating the structure for a web tool with sitemaps for 9 areas, and developing 27 content modules.

Read more in the full 2025 Annual Report: https://www.fddc.org/fddc-annual-reports/

06/18/2026

We are proud to support the Florida Partners in Policymaking Program and love seeing the amazing accomplishments of the many alumni

06/18/2026

The Florida Legislature has passed the FY 2026-27 state budget, which includes funding and policy changes that could affect services and supports for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), their families, providers, and advocates.

Highlights include investments in the iBudget waiver, provider rates, technology modernization, and other programs that support Florida's I/DD community.

Learn more about the proposed budget and what it could mean for Florida's I/DD community. Visit FDDC news - link in first comment.

06/18/2026

In 2025, the FDDC worked on five goals:

✅Access to Services
✅Home- and Community-Based Delivery Systems
✅Aging Caregivers
✅Self-Advocacy Leadership
✅Broad Systems Change/Emerging Issues

Through outreach, training, technical assistance, interagency collaboration, barrier elimination, and policy advocacy, the Council worked to improve the lives of individuals with I/DD across Florida.

Read the full 2025 Annual Report: https://www.fddc.org/fddc-annual-reports/

06/17/2026

The Florida Developmental Disabilities Council’s 2025 Annual Report is now available.

In the 2025 fiscal year, FDDC made strong progress in Year 4 of its 5-year plan. The Council provided training, shared practical information, and advocated for systems change to help people with I/DD and their families live healthy, meaningful lives in their communities.

Read the full 2025 Annual Report to review FDDC’s initiatives and accomplishments: https://www.fddc.org/fddc-annual-reports/

06/16/2026

REQUEST FOR BIDS (FDDC Bid #2026-BH-9600): Training First Responders
The Florida Developmental Disabilities Council, Inc. is pleased to release Bid #2026-BH-9600 Training First Responders.

Copies of the Bid, Work Plan Template, and Budget Request Form can be downloaded from the FDDC website – complete info is at the link in the comments.

Date of Release: Tuesday, June 16, 2026
Due Date: All submissions must be received by 4:00 p.m. EDT on Thursday, July 16, 2026.
Bid results posted on the FDDC website (fddc.org) on Friday, July 31, 2026.

06/16/2026

Miami Autism Dad Victor Antunez interviews Arlene Peterson, Executive Director of The WOW Center in Kendall, an Adult Day Training center that has spent 54 years building a life after high school for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

The conversation starts in 1972, when a group of Miami parents watched their kids approach graduation with nothing waiting on the other side, no programs, no options, and decided to build around what their children could do instead of the list of what they couldn’t.

That decision grew into a center serving over 200 adults, from their early 20s into their 70s.

Miami Autism Dad Victor Antunez interviews Arlene Peterson, Executive Director of The WOW Center in Kendall, an Adult Day Training center that has spent 54 years building a life after high school for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The conversation starts in 1972, when...