Oklahoma Developmental Disabilities Council
CONSUMER INVOLVEMENT FUND Brochure

Application and Information

The mission of the Oklahoma Developmental Disabilities Council is to promote quality services and programs which enable persons with developmental disabilities to fully realize their maximum potential through increased independence and productivity, as well as through integration and inclusion into the community.

What is the Consumer Involvement Fund?

The Oklahoma Developmental Disabilities Council annually sets aside funds 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.

Who can apply to the Consumer Involvement Fund?

Eligibility is limited to:

• Persons with disabilities
• Immediate family members of persons with disabilities: parent, sibling, child, spouse or guardian
• Service providers or educators of persons with disabilities, who demonstrates that their agency or organization cannot fund the request
• Active graduates of Oklahoma Partners in Policymaking or Oklahoma Youth Leadership Forum.

If you need assistance in developing your request, or if you would like further information, please call us at (405) 521-4984 or, toll-free, 1-800-836-4470.

Instructions

The Oklahoma Developmental Disabilities Council is an agency of the state of Oklahoma and therefore complies with travel policies and procedures established in law. The procedures below comply with law at the time of this brochure’s publication; however, the Council may necessarily change the procedures to comply with changes in state law. As an applicant, the Council assumes that you have read the following and agree to comply with all travel policies of the state of Oklahoma.

Complete applications to the Consumer Involvement Fund MUST be submitted no later than 10 weeks prior to dates of travel. Requests may be submitted by mail, hand-delivery, email or fax to the Council office. Incomplete applications will be returned with requests for additional information, and will be reconsidered only if the resubmitted paperwork is complete and still meets the 10 week timeline. Please plan accordingly and assure that all information necessary is included in your request.

The Council will fund no more than one request per individual or family every two years.

Requests must include:

• A cover letter in which the applicant describes his/her rationale for attending the conference, the applicability of the conference to the Council’s work as defined in the State Plan (available on the Council’s Web site), and plans to disseminate conference information.
• The completed application form from this brochure.

• A complete copy of the official conference brochure, showing the title and sponsors of the conference or event; dates, times and locations of the conference; the designated hotel for overnight stays, including the rates and hotel phone number; and conference registration information and cost.
• An itemized line-item budget showing costs requested of the Council and costs you will cover or secure from another source. This budget must contain information on airfare or mileage; registration fees; lodging; per diem (for meal expenses); local transportation/airport parking; and respite or attendant care, if being requested. This budget should be formatted as below:

Expense Category	Amount Requested of Council	Amount to be provided by traveler or third party
Airfare
Mileage
Registration
Lodging
Per Diem
Local Transportation
Respite/Attendant
Total

For approved applicants, the Council will fund partial costs of all necessary expenses related to attending a conference or meeting. The Council requires that persons wishing to attend an event with Council support provide a minimum of 25 percent of costs from personal or third party funds, such as funds from other state agencies, private foundations, public and private service agencies, an employer, family, or community of faith. Funds used for non-necessary expenses such as optional recreational opportunities and banquets will not count toward the 25 percent personal investment.

The maximum request of the Council must not exceed $1000 for individuals, or $2000 per family. For a family to receive full funding, there must be a relevant reason for attendance such as a conference track on siblings, or a clinical or experiential opportunity with an expert in the field.

In consideration of the Council’s financial assistance, successful applicants will be required to:

• Complete a short survey related to the conference or event, provided by the Council.
• Share copies of all informational materials gathered at the conference with the Council.
• Contact your federal and state legislators and offer to share information learned with them. Copies of these letters should also be sent to the Council.
• Develop a brief fact sheet of information gathered at the conference and track and report (on forms provided by the Council) the people with whom you share this information for one year.
• As requested, write a written report or present an oral report to the Council.

Failure to adhere to these requirements will result in non-consideration of any subsequent requests to the Consumer Involvement Fund.

In addition to the general requirements listed above, there are some important travel policies and Council procedures with which you must abide:

• The Council can pay for airline tickets and most conference registration fees up-front. All other expenses must be paid up-front by the traveler and reimbursed upon return from the conference, based on submitted receipts. This includes airport parking, local transportation, hotel accommodations, meals and respite/attendant care.
• If the traveler is requesting an airline ticket from the Council, he or she must allow the OKDHS Travel Office to book the ticket. If a traveler does pay for a plane ticket, the Council cannot reimburse those costs. There is no exception to this rule. In writing a request to the Council, the traveler may contact an airline, travel agent, or a travel website for cost estimates and flight times, but tickets should not be reserved or booked.
• The request to the Council should explain any preferences or considerations for airline travel based on a traveler’s disability, and any special accommodations during flights should be noted. The Travel Office is experienced in making these arrangements and will work to assure the traveler has the services/supports needed.
• The traveler will make hotel reservations, if needed. If there is a designated hotel for a conference, the traveler must stay in that hotel. If the designated hotel is not available, the traveler should call Council staff to arrange an acceptable substitution. To comply with state policy, the Council must have confirmation from the conference sponsors that this is an acceptable substitution or we will not be able to reimburse. If there is no designated hotel, please call the Council office as there are certain rules regarding how much the state will reimburse overnight accommodations.
• Per diem costs are calculated on an hourly basis, and are calculated on a city-by-city basis, so please ask the Council staff to help. Deductions in per diem allowance will be made for conference-sponsored meals (except continental breakfast) whether or not they are eaten. If the meals provided at the conference are an additional fee, the traveler should let the Council know whether or not he/she will be participating in that meal. With regard to per diem, travel time starts when the traveler leaves home and ends when he/she returns home, with a few exceptions based on illness or weather emergencies. Be prepared to provide this information to Council staff with your reimbursement forms.

• Driving out-of-state is acceptable, but per diem may not be available for travel time in excess of 24 hours. Additionally, mileage reimbursement will not exceed the cost of a 21-day advance airline ticket to the same destination. If an overnight stay in a hotel on the way to or from the conference is necessary, there are limits to the amount of reimbursement the Council can provide. Travelers should confirm their plans with Council staff. If the traveler is driving to accommodate additional friends and family who are traveling along but not attending the conference, the costs of upgrading any hotel rooms from single occupancy to double occupancy or greater will be the traveler’s responsibility.
• There are travel policies associated with staying overnight with family or friends in the area during a conference or meeting and while in travel status. If the traveler does stay with a friend instead of staying in a hotel, he/she may be eligible for a higher per diem rate.
• The Council will generally sponsor no more than two individuals to attend any single conference, unless the Council is a listed sponsor of the conference. All requests to the Council will be dated upon receipt in the Council office. Requests will be considered in the order received. In the event that a large number of individuals apply for assistance from the Council for a single conference, the Council may choose to fund a single amount and request that all applicants work together to find a way to support the entire delegation. For example, it might be possible for more individuals to attend a conference if roommates are chosen for double-occupancy hotel rooms.
• Upon return, Council staff will send the traveler reimbursement paperwork for completion. The traveler will need to be prepared to record the time left and returned home (including dates), and provide receipts for parking, tolls, respite/attendant care, and overnight accommodations. The hotel receipt must show a zero balance. The receipt hotels put under a guest’s door on the day of checkout are generally NOT zero-balance receipts; most travelers will have to check out with the front desk to get this receipt. Be aware that personal charges on hotel bills for room service, phone calls, movies, etc. are not reimbursable expenses. If the traveler paid up-front for the conference registration and the Council will be reimbursing that expense, the Council will also need that receipt. Meal receipts are not necessary as per diem is limited by hours traveled.

 

Application Form

Please photocopy this blank form before completing, to use as a worksheet.

Name _____________________________________            Date _____________
Address __________________________________________________________
City _____________               County ______            State _____     ZIP ________
Phone _____________________        Social Security Number ________________
E-mail ____________________________________________________________

If more than one person from a single family, please list the names and social security numbers of additional travelers requesting support from the Council:

 

Check one        ____ I am a person with a disability
                        ____ I am an immediate family member or guardian of a person with a disability
                        ____ I am a graduate of Partners in Policymaking or the Youth Leadership Forum
                        ____ Other ___________________________

If person with disability or family member/guardian, age of person with disability ___

Title of program you are seeking funding to attend
_____________________________________________

Sponsor of program ___________________________________

Dates ________________      Location _____________________________

Have you ever attended this program before ___ Yes    ___ No
Have you applied to the Consumer Involvement Fund before ___ Yes   ___ No

If so, for what program ____________________________________
Date of that application _____________________
Did you receive funding from the Council           _____ Yes                   _____ No

Ethnic status (optional/check all that apply) ___ Hispanic ___ African-American
___ Asian-American ___ Native American ___ Caucasian ___ Other _________

Complete this form and send it with a cover letter, line item budget, and complete conference registration materials to:

Oklahoma Developmental Disabilities Council
Attn: Rick Barcus
P. O. Box 25352
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73125

Voice/TTY (405) 521-4984
Fax (405) 521-4910
Toll-free 1-800-836-4470
www.okddc.ok.gov
E-mail staff@okddc.ok.gov