The Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities, through its planning and reform efforts, has played a leadership role in Minnesota and the nation. Its actions and documents have brought issues before policymakers and service providers.

The Council has also placed high priority on empowering individuals and families to represent their own interests — in their own lives, at tables where individual lives are planned, and in halls and offices of bureaucracies and legislatures.

Two major issues provided the context for many of the documents in this section — Case Management and Medicaid Reform. In the mid-1980s, the Council identified Case Management as a priority. The Council also decided that, rather than use the funds for case managers, an investment would be made in people to develop the capacities of individuals with disabilities, their families and friends so they would be in charge of their own destinies. This effort led to support for Personal Futures Planning and other person centered planning approaches described in Section 2.1 Self Determination and Personal Futures Planning.

The second major issue was Medicaid Reform. In the context of trying to achieve legislative change, it was obvious that individuals with disabilities and their families needed to be at the forefront of educating policymakers, testifying before committees, and generally representing their interests in a new way of doing business and thinking about what people and families need.

This realization, tied to other issues in need of reform, led to the development of a number of advocacy tools and guides, such as Action, This Means War! It also led to the development of Partners in Policymaking® a community leadership training program that is being replicated in over 40 states, the US Virgin Islands, and Great Britain.

The efforts that began with Case Management as a priority continued as the Council subsequently identified Accountability, and then Leadership as priority areas.