Advocacy Types: There are three types of advocacy: self-advocacy, individual advocacy and systems advocacy. The CED is involved in all areas of advocacy for people with disabilities and their families.
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA): Develops, support and strengthens programs throughout West Virginia to assure quality volunteer advocacy for abused or neglected children in the state’s court system.
Disability Rights of West Virginia: Federally mandated protection and advocacy system for people with disabilities in West Virginia. Several advocacy programs including Medley/Hartley Advocacy Program, Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities, Protection and Advocacy for Traumatic Brian Injury and more. Services are confidential and free of charge.
Fair Shake Network: Grassroots organization of West Virginians dedicated to a “fair shake” for people with disabilities and to the belief that diversity makes our communities stronger.
Legal Aid of West Virginia: Statewide nonprofit organization providing free legal services and advocacy. Ensures dignity and equal justice is available to all West Virginians, not just those who can afford it.
People First of West Virginia: Group of individuals with developmental disabilities who join together and speak up for themselves to promote self-advocacy and act on behalf of the rights and responsibilities of all people with developmental disabilities.
West Virginia Developmental Disabilities Council: Mission is to assure that WV citizens with developmental disabilities receive the services, supports and other forms of assistance they need to exercise self-determination and achieve independence, productivity, integration and inclusion in the community.
West Virginia Human Rights Commission: Advocates for respect, tolerance, and mutual understanding in communities regardless of race, gender, religious persuasion, ethnicity or disability.
WV DHHR Types of Guardianship: A guide defining the different types of guardianship, including self-advocacy, supported decision-making, conservatorships and more
Administration for Community Living: Created around the fundamental principle that older adults and people of all ages with disabilities should be able to live where they choose, with the people they choose, and with the ability to participate fully in their communities.
Aging & Disability Resource Centers: A comprehensive web-based resource center that is fully accessible and searchable, featuring a network of partnering aging and disability organizations committed to providing professionally trained staff that can guide you through the maze of long-term care services and supports.
Appalachian Center for Independent Living: Promotes the interdependence, productivity and quality of life of individuals with disabilities through empowerment, integration and inclusion.
LiveAbility: An all-inclusive advocacy and resource center for people with disabilities and the communities in which they live. Offers a wide array of services, education and opportunities at no cost.
Personal Care Services Program: An in-home care program for West Virginia Medicaid members who may need help with their Activities of Daily Living (ADL). Trained direct-care workers come to your home, place of employment, or community to assist with ADLs and other areas of personal care to help you live independently.
National Disability Rights Network: Advocates for the enactment and vigorous enforcement of laws protecting civil and human rights of people with disabilities.
Take Me Home Transition Program: The purpose of the Take Me Home Transition Program is to identify qualifying residents of long-term care facilities who wish to return to their own homes and apartments in the community and provide them with supports and services they need to do so.
The Arc of West Virginia: Promotes and protects the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and actively supports their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes.
West Virginia Independence Network: Empowers West Virginians living with disabilities through advocacy, skills training, information and referral, transition services and peer support.
West Virginia Olmstead Transition and Diversion Program: Program that assists people with disabilities who reside in a facility or are at imminent risk of facility placement. Funding can support approximately 60-80 people per year.
West Virginia Statewide Independent Living Council: Promotes the value, equality, full-inclusion and freedom of choice of all West Virginians with disabilities. Includes info on the Ron Yost Personal Assistance Services Act Program, which is a consumer-controlled program to enable people with severe disabilities to live in their own homes and communities.
WV Pathways to Professional In-Home Care: Free program that teaches West Virginians the skills to provide direct care and in-home support to older adults and people with disabilities. No experience needed. Those accepted into the program are paid while they receive training.
WVU Health Affairs Institute Home and Community-Based Services: Provides expert assessment of various modes of healthcare delivery, from telehealth to long-term care, which particularly benefits populations who want to remain in their home and communities to receive care.
Expectations Matter: Offers free person-centered planning trainings and resources to people with developmental disabilities and their family members. The trainings are delivered by people with disabilities and family members.
National Center on Advancing Person-Centered Practices and Systems: Assists states, tribes and territories to transform their service and support systems to implement U.S. Department of Health and Human Services policy on person-centered thinking, planning and practices.
Positive Behavior Support Program Person-Centered Planning: PBS provides person-centered planning to individuals as well as agencies working with individuals with disabilities. Person-centered planning is a fun interactive eight-step process that focuses on the individual’s dream and what they want for their future. It helps participants develop goals and create an action plan for achieving their goals and increase their quality of life.
West Virginians with Disabilities Speak About Person-Centered Care: The WVU CED spoke with West Virginians with disabilities about the importance of person-centered care and what it means to them. Includes a video with interviews and links to resources and information.
AUCD Council on Leadership in Advocacy (COLA): Advises and assists the AUCD Network to enhance the quality of life for individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. Fosters and supports current and new leaders with lived experience of disability.
Decision-Making in Healthcare: A tool to help health care providers respect the decision-making rights of people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities.
National Leadership Consortium on Developmental Disabilities: A partnership of 19 national developmental disabilities organizations that works to assure the quality and commitment of the next generation of leaders for government and nonprofit organizations serving people with developmental disabilities.
Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE): National self-advocacy organization that works to ensure people with disabilities are treated as equals and that they are given the same decisions, choices, rights, responsibilities, and chances to speak up to empower themselves; opportunities to make new friends, and to learn from their mistakes.
Sibling Leadership Network: National nonprofit whose mission is to provide siblings of individuals with disabilities the information, support and tools to advocate with their brothers and sisters and to promote the issues important to them and their entire families.
WVABLE: Helps West Virginians with disabilities access STABLE accounts, which allow individuals to save and invest money without losing eligibility for certain public benefits programs, like Medicaid, SSI or SSDI. STABLE account earnings are not subject to federal income tax, so long as they are spent on qualified disability expenses.
Youth as Self-Advocates (YASA): A national advisory board of teen and young adult leaders with disabilities who represent diverse races and cultures, have different disabilities and health care needs, and come from different regions of the country.
