Nothing About Us Without Us: A Recap of Georgia’s 2024 Legislative Session

The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities’ (GCDD) public policy team has made tireless efforts to foster new relationships and educate legislators on the need for policy change that promotes opportunities for Georgians with developmental disabilities (DD) to live, learn, work, play, and worship in their communities – and it’s showing results. This year, GCDD hosted three Advocacy Days. Advocacy Days encourage individuals from the intellectual (ID) or developmental disabilities (DD) community throughout Georgia to use their voices to advocate for their needs by coming to the state Capitol and speaking to their legislators directly. As a way to increase participation and to fully prepare advocates for their experience at the Capitol, each Advocacy Day during the 2024 session consisted of a virtual and an in-person day.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.