With great regret, the Consumer Involvement Fund and Professional Development Fund must be suspended until further notice. This action is necessary as the Council has not received final notification of its FFY 2013 allocation, and because we remain concerned about funding cuts to our program. This was a difficult decision for the Council to make – and we hope you will watch our website for more information. We will reinstate the funds at our first opportunity. Thank you.

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The Oklahoma Developmental Disabilities Council annually sets aside funds in a Consumer Involvement Fund to assist advocates in the field of developmental disabilities to participate in conferences and short-term educational programs.

The Council provides this support as a method of building community capacity in Oklahoma. It is the expectation of the Council that advocates accessing financial assistance will share information on Oklahoma initiatives as well as learn from their counterparts in other communities. This information exchange will help increase knowledge in Oklahoma, the end product being improved programs and services for persons with developmental disabilities in our state.

Consumer Involvement Fund Brochure

*IMPORTANT CHANGES
As of July 19th, 2010

IMPORTANT CHANGES TO THE CONSUMER INVOLVEMENT FUND AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND

The Oklahoma Developmental Disabilities Council has a long history of supporting individuals with disabilities and their advocates by providing travel assistance for disability-related conferences and events.

Recent changes in State travel policies, coupled with the difficulty of arranging such logistics, have required the Council to re-examine the Consumer Involvement Fund and Professional Development Fund, as originally presented in this brochure.

Please be aware of the following changes in both programs:

• The Council will now require travelers to arrange and pay for expenses related to transportation to/from conferences. This includes private car mileage, as well as public transportation, such as airplanes, buses, or trains.
• The Council will no longer pay for or reimburse transportation expenses.
• Transportation expenses WILL be considered as the traveler’s contribution, as long-required by both the Consumer Involvement Fund and Professional Development Fund. As such, an estimated cost of such transportation expenses should be included in the application.

The Council understands the potential financial burden this may place on travelers. However, we believe that not only will this make travel arrangements more convenient for the traveler(s), but will also allow the Council to send more individuals, families, and professionals to important conferences.

The full, revised versions of the Consumer Involvement Fund and Professional Development Fund are available on-line on the Council’s website: www.OKDDC.ok.gov

For more information or explanation, please call the Council office at (405) 521-4984, or toll-free at 1-800-836-4470.

Thank you.