GCDD Impact: Georgia’s Advancing Employment Center Expands Impact and Reach

The Advancing Employment Training and Technical Assistance Center at the  University of Georgia's Institute on Human Development and Disability (IHDD) is a long-running initiative of the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD). It is making major strides in creating more integrated workplaces for people with disabilities across the state.Now entering its seventh year, the initiative continues to grow in both scope and influence — thanks to a focused commitment on systems change, ongoing education, and stakeholder engagement.“We really take seriously that phrase, ‘continually improving,’” said Doug Crandell, Public Service Faculty and Director of the Advancing Employment project. “We’re not just training and providing technical assistance. We’re shaping policy, bringing people together, and pushing toward meaningful employment for all.”The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is driven by its Five Year Strategic Plan goals to improve services and supports for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (I/DD). The Council, charged with creating systems change for individuals with developmental disabilities and family members, will work through various advocacy and capacity building activities to build a more interdependent, self-sufficient, and integrated and included disability community across Georgia.This project was supported, in part by grant number 2001GASCDD-03, from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects with government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL policy.