Advocacy Day at the Capitol with Community Choices self-advocates!
Community Choices self-advocates, Tiffany and Jasmine, along with CC staff traveled to Springfield, our state capitol, this week for Advocacy Day at the Capitol! Advocacy Day at the Capitol is a partnership of the Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities and the Autism Society, Southern Illinois.
2023 is Community Choices first year back after a break during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was Jasmine and Tiffany’s first year at Advocacy Day! Our mission was to tell our representatives in state government about key bills in committee or up for a vote that deeply impact the lives of people with I/DD and their support workers in Illinois and encourage them to support the bills.
The bills advocated for a wage increase for Direct Support Staff (DSPs) accountability for facility staff who withhold information in abuse and neglect investigations, an end to subminimum wage, and community college training for DSPs. All extremely important issues in the lives of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
We delivered information on these important bills to our Champaign-Urbana representatives, State Senator Paul Faraci and State Representative Carol Ammons.
Community Choices supports our members to advocate for themselves and their community. If you are interested in getting involved with advocacy work with us, please contact us!
