The Montgomery County Council approved legislation Tuesday updating the membership of the County’s Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Commission (IDDC), with changes intended to increase representation of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Bill 28-26, sponsored by Councilmembers Dawn Luedtke and Shebra Evans, increases the number of commission members with intellectual and developmental disabilities from two to five. It also reduces the number of parents, guardians or certain relatives from nine to five, while maintaining seven seats for representatives of service providers or advocacy organizations and one seat for the Commission on People with Disabilities. The legislation had support from the full Council. The County’s legislative system confirms Luedtke and Evans as the bill’s sponsors, with the other Councilmembers listed as co-sponsors.
At least three members of the commission must participate in self-directed services. Luedtke said the changes are intended to place more people with lived experience at the center of the commission’s work, while Evans said the revised structure would better reflect the needs of the IDD community.
The legislation is titled the Jake Didinsky Advocacy Act in recognition of Jake Didinsky and his advocacy for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
