Who Qualifies/What will we do/What is Advocacy Support?

Arc of Adams County Child Advocacy Services

The Arc of Adams County provides advocacy services to children with developmental disabilities and intellectual disabilities. It is our mission to assist, support and intervene on behalf of families and their children. We are not a legal service.

Who qualifies for our Child Services?

Child advocacy services through The Arc of Adams County provide intervention, technical assistance and direct advocacy for children with a developmental and intellectual disability from birth to age 21. A developmental disability is a condition that involves significant limitations in both intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior, which impacts many everyday social and practical living skills. This may include children with developmental delays who are typically under the age of 5 and have impaired ability in the areas of communication, self-help, social-emotional, motor skills, sensory development and/or cognition. As time allows, staff may be able to provide limited assistance for children with other disabilities.

(You will need to know which School District you're child is in before you call for information so you can be connected to the appropriate Educational Advocate).

What will we do?

Whenever possible we use a single issue advocacy approach. We will talk with you to determine what your child’s advocacy issue is and how The Arc can help. As your child’s parent or guardian, you know them better than anyone else and that makes you their best advocate. We will support you to advocate for your child. Once the identified issue is resolved, we will fade out and no longer be involved. There are also situations or complex issues that do not fit into our single issue approach. For those situations we will stay involved until all issues are resolved.

What is advocacy support?

Advocacy support can vary widely depending on your child’s needs and can mean different things to different people. Here are some examples:

  • Provide technical assistance regarding general education and special educational issues

  • Review written Individual Education Programs (IEP)

  • Collaborate and communicate with educational teams and service agencies

  • Observe child in educational setting, when appropriate

  • Attend IEP staffings and disability-related meetings

  • Provide conflict resolution strategies

  • Support parent/guardian with advocacy skills

  • Empower parent/guardian to advocate for their child

  • Assistance applying for developmental disability services

  • Provide disability awareness and information

  • Share community resources and provide assistance to access those services if necessary

  • Assist students age 15 and up with transition process to adulthood

These are only examples; please call our office to discuss your needs.