In this issue, read about:
- Year of Building Community
- Bridging Aging & Disability Network States Showcase Work for Communities
- We’re Here All Year: DD Council Edition!
- NACDD Launches Community Webinar Series
- Join us for our next webinar on January 14th!
- Stay engaged with the NACDD network!
If you have ideas and stories you want to share about your DD Council and community, send them at media@nacdd.org.
Year of Building Community
In 2025, our community amplified its voice to make sure the DD community counted and was seen and heard when it comes to decisions that impact our everyday life. This year, the disability community was louder than ever.
With NACDD, you participated in federal advocacy action, sent in your stories for We’re Here All Year! , shared information to your networks, joined our advocacy network, and so much more.
Our work is just beginning, and thanks to all of you, we have a strong community to help us lead the way in 2026.
DD Council Impact
Bridging Aging & Disability Network States Showcase Work for Communities
Seventeen (17) State Alliance Teams made up of State Councils on Developmental Disabilities, State Developmental Disability Agencies, State Aging Agencies, and other State and/or Territory partners are developing best practices, systems change, and policy change to enhance and improve aging services to individuals with I/DD and their families.
This project, led by NADDC, is possible through a five-year cooperative agreement made available by the Administration for Community Living at the United States Department of Health and Human Services to support improved resource and service coordination among aging and disability systems.
The “Bridging Aging & Disability Networks Initiative” is a national Community of Practice (CoP) of seventeen (17) state alliance teams (SATs) focused on improving aging services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD) and their aging family members. The participating BADN CoP States grants and technical assistance were made available by the Administration for Community Living (ACL) within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
We’re Here All Year: DD Council Edition!
NACDD’s 2025 theme, We’re Here All Year, emphasizes that community, accessibility, and opportunities for people with developmental disabilities should be recognized and championed. State Developmental Disabilities Councils — often called DD Councils — work to support those ideals every day, in many different ways.
Through the next few weeks, NACDD will be highlighting the impact of state DD Councils and the work they do in their states to advance community living for people with developmental disabilities.
How you can participate:
Swipe through the images below to learn all about what DD Councils are, what they do, how they work, and (most importantly) how YOU can get involved!
Visit the We’re Here All Year gallery to learn more about this year’s theme and read personal stories from people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) from across the nation.
Submit your DD Council impact story to media@nacdd.org with photos and a short blurb about an impactful project from your DD Council.
NACDD Insights
NACDD Launches Community Webinar Series
NACDD launched its Community Webinar Series in December 2025 to enhance its outreach and educate and inform advocates, DD Councils, and other stakeholders on issues that will impact DD Councils such as Medicaid cuts and more.
The first session was held on December 17th with guest presenters KFF. Alice Burns and Mais Mohammed joined NACDD to provide an overview of changes to Medicaid stemming from the 2025 reconciliation law, based on KFF’s recent report “States’ Management of Medicaid Home Care Spending Ahead of H.R. 1 Effects.”
The recording and transcript will be shared with attendees in January 2026.
Join us for our next webinar on January 14th!
New Medicaid community engagement rules in federal law could seriously harm people who are medically fragile, even though the law says they should be exempt.
NACDD will host its next webinar on January 14th at 4 PM with experts from Justice in Aging. They will share a new toolkit to help advocates speak up now and throughout the rollout of these rules. The goal is to make sure states put safeguards in place to prevent people from losing coverage.
Register here.
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