Join an Advocacy Team!

These are tough times for disability advocates in Texas—threatened cuts in services; continued growth of waiting lists for community supports; state policies that do not support community involvement for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In the face of these challenges, The Arc of Texas and our members must become even more organized and active in defending the interests of Texans with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

To help fight back, The Arc invites you to be part of our new Advocacy Teams—or “A-Teams”!


The A-Team mission is to:

• build close working relationships with key legislators and policy makers,
• educate them about the needs of Texans with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and
• encourage them to support resources and supports needed to create opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to be fully included in their communities.

A-Team members will be the eyes, ears and VOICE of The Arc throughout the state. Each A-Team will be assigned to the legislators in a specific legislative district. Each team will select a Team Leader who will:

• coordinate activities that will not only support statewide disability policy, but local efforts as well
• liaise with The Arc of Texas staff, who will assist with advocacy efforts as needed
• meet with legislators at least twice each year, building relationships with key decision makers and their staff

To support A-Team advocacy efforts, The Arc will:

• provide contact information for assigned legislators, policy makers and reporters, as well as regular Advocacy Alerts, Strategy Memos and Talking Points
• provide Advocacy Tool Kits for specific legislation or topics. These kits will include talking points, sample letters to the editor, letters to lawmakers, facts about legislation, press contacts, and sample OpEds.

If YOU want to improve access to community supports for all Texans with intellectual and developmental disabilities, if YOU want to help meet the support needs of families and individuals, if YOU want policymakers to listen for a change—join an A-Team!

For more information, contact Dawn Choate at The Arc of Texas at (800) 252-9729, ext. 104, or at dchaote@thearcoftexas.org.