History and Accomplishments

For over 55 years, The Arc of Texas has been instrumental in the development of virtually every program, service, right, and benefit available to the more than half a million Texans with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Here are just a few examples:

• 1951 - Local councils formed "The Association for Retarded Children."
  
  
• 1953 – The first state legislation passed mandating public education for children with mental retardation.
  
  
• 1960 - The association opened its first official headquarters in Austin.
  
  
• 1971 - In collaboration with the Kennedy Foundation, The Arc established "Texas Special Olympics."
  
  
• 1974 - The organization changed its name to "The Association for Retarded Citizens."
  
  
• 1975 - The federal "Education for All Handicapped Children Act" or "Public Law 94-142" was passed.
  
  
• 1975 - The Arc launched its Household Recycling Program to generate funding for state-level operations.
  
  
• 1977 - The Texas Mentally Retarded Persons Act, a "Bill of Rights" for Texans with mental retardation, was enacted by the Texas Legislature.
  
  
• 1980 - The Texas Advocates, a self-advocacy group for people with mental retardation, was formed.
  
  
• 1983 - The organization became an intervenor in federal litigation regarding Texas institutional services. The lawsuit eventually resulted in the closure of two state institutions and the development of community services for hundreds of former state school residents.
  
  
• Mid 1980s - Zoning legislation and In-Home and Family Support bills were enacted. The Home and Community-based Services (HCS) and Community Living Assistance and Support Services (CLASS) programs were initiated.
  
  
• 1993 - The organization again changed its name, this time to "The Arc of Texas," as it began to expand services to include people with other types of developmental disabilities. The first annual "Inclusion Works" Conference was held to train educators and parents on how to implement inclusion for students with disabilities.
  
  
• 1997 - The Arc of Texas established the Master Pooled Trust, Texas' first supplemental needs pooled trust fund for people with disabilities.
  
  
• 1997 - The U.S. Congress passed a sweeping amendment to the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which expanded inclusive education opportunities for school children with disabilities.
  
  
• 2002 - In collaboration with Advocacy, Inc, The Arc brought a federal lawsuit against The State of Texas in an attempt to obtain Medicaid-funded services for thousands on the HCS and CLASS waiting lists.
  
  
• 2003 - The Arc built and moved into a new state office in Austin. The office, which includes 10,000 square feet of lease space is intended to provide steady income to support state operations in addition to being the Austin home for The Arc of Texas.
  
  
• 2006 - The Arc of Texas changed its Mission Statement to replace the words "mental retardation and other developmental disabilities" with "intellectual and developmental disabilities".
  
  
• 2006 - The Arc settled the 4-year old McCarthy Waiting List lawsuit against the State of Texas with an expectation that the number of persons served by Medicaid waiver services will be significantly expanded during the six year period from 2007-2013.