State Plan and Goals

Our Current Work

The Council is now working under a new five-year state plan. This plan officially began on Oct. 1, 2026, and guides our work through 2031.

Why does a State Plan matter?

Every state council like ours is required to write a new state plan every five years. The plan is our map for how we will do the work we’ve been given by the federal Developmental Disabilities Act:

• Supporting advocacy (making sure the voices of people with disabilities and their families are heard)
• Building capacity (growing the disability supports that are available)
• Systems change (making services better for people with disabilities)

How we created this plan

Our state plan is always based on your input. We get ready for a new state plan by doing a “comprehensive review and analysis” of Tennessee disability services. This helps us understand all the services that already exist. We then do a statewide community needs assessment. In 2025, we did this together with our Developmental Disabilities Network partners. We heard from 1,500 members of the community who responded to our joint survey. We also analyzed data from requests for help from another 1,400 people facing barriers to services. The results gave us a thorough picture of the needs and priorities of Tennessee's developmental disabilities community. 

We then developed the goals and objectives in this plan based on all that information, with input from the Information and Technical Assistance Center for Councils on Developmental Disabilities (ITACC). The plan was approved for five years by our federal funding agency: the Administration on Community Living.  

Our plan has two broad goals. Under the goals, objectives tell the concrete ways we will meet the goal. We’ll also share some examples of projects under each goal.

Goal 1: Grassroots Advocacy

Each year, the Council will provide training and resources to people with developmental disabilities and their families to increase their engagement in advocacy and systems change.

• Objective 1.1: Annually, the Council will provide skill-building training and increase the number of people with developmental disabilities and their families who are prepared to engage in advocacy activities.
• Objective 1.2: Annually, the Council will strengthen programs led by self-advocates by directly funding a statewide self-advocacy organization led by individuals with developmental disabilities, helping leaders with developmental disabilities teach leadership skills to peers who may become leaders, and increasing the involvement of people with developmental disabilities in leadership groups that include people with different types of disabilities and different backgrounds.
• Objective 1.3: Annually, the Council will provide plain-language information about policies and programs to people with developmental disabilities, their families, and communities that support them to increase the engagement of informed, confident, and resourceful community leaders.

Example projects: Partners in Policymaking®, helping Tennesseans with disabilities share their stories with policymakers (like Disability Day on the Hill), funding a statewide self-advocacy organization, peer leadership training, the Council scholarship fund, support for serving on boards and commissions, digital and print resources on disability topics (including safety and security), and sharing state and federal policy news in our e-newsletter

Goal 2: Systems Change

Each year, the Council will lead coordinated, cross-agency collaboration and provide policymakers and systems leaders with clear, disability-informed resources to address service barriers and improve service efficiency.

• Objective 2.1: Annually, the Council will utilize the voices of people with developmental disabilities in their work with system leaders to address barriers and gaps in services by improving communication and streamlining the disability service system.
• Objective 2.2: Annually, the Council will create resources that highlight the lived experiences of people with developmental disabilities and their families to share with policymakers and system leaders to change or improve policy.

Example projects: TN Leadership Academy on Disability Services, contributing to workgroups on priority areas, helping state agencies use accessible, plain language, better ways to navigate services (like TN Disability Pathfinder), first responder training and safety alerts, input on state and federal policy, short informational videos, and sharing real stories as “case studies” with system leaders and policymakers