To close out our celebration of Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month 2025, we're highlighting four Institute on Disabilities programs that:

• Promote the everyday lives of Pennsylvanians with developmental disabilities through person-centered approaches,
• Center inclusion and personal choice while providing learning and advocacy opportunities for people with disabilities and their families from all backgrounds, and
• Deliver high-quality training for professionals supporting people with disabilities to plan and live their lives, grounded in the principles of self-determination and community inclusion.

Program Spotlight – C2P2

Competence and Confidence, Partners in Policymaking (C2P2) is Pennsylvania’s “partners” program. 

C2P2 is free leadership development training open to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and/or autism, and parents of school age children with intellectual and developmental disabilities and/or autism.

C2P2 participants epitomize the diversity of Pennsylvanians’ racial, ethnic, educational, social, religious, and economic backgrounds, reflecting the language of Governor Shapiro’s recent Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month proclamation.

Program learning activities focus on inclusion, person-centered practices, community integration and personal choice, throughout an eight-month training period. Each participant chooses a disability policy issue of importance and has a chance to speak with Pennsylvania policymakers to have their views heard.  

More about C2P2

Funded by Pennsylvania’s Office of Developmental Programs, the program is modeled after a nationally recognized leadership training and advocacy education model that began at the University of Minnesota.

Program Spotlight – Supports Broker Certification

Working to professionalize the supports broker role through skills certification.

Supports brokers are certified professionals who play a vital role in helping people succeed in self-directing their waiver-funded services and supports. Pennsylvania supports brokers are required to comply with standards set by the Office of Developmental Programs, and to subsequently re-certify every three years.

The Institute's certification training gives prospective supports brokers the information they need to understand Participant Directed Services and Supports and the broker’s role. Guided by principles of self-determination, training participants will gain knowledge and skills necessary to enhance natural supports, support participants with employment-related responsibilities, and assist people with waiver rules and person-centered planning.  

To learn more about supports brokering, read “Professionalizing the Supports Broker Role,” by Institute Associate Director of Policy, Jamie Ray-Leonetti.

Supports Broker certification and recertification training programs in Pennsylvania are conducted by the Institute on Disabilities and funded by Pennsylvania’s Office of Developmental Programs.

Program Spotlight – Free Special Phones

Access to a phone is a right, not a privilege.

Being able to operate a phone independently can help a disabled person stay in charge of social and medical activities in their daily lives, especially in emergency situations.

"You helped and allowed me to reconnect with the world I thought I lost. Thank you."
- Jayne S, Philadelphia

The Free Special Phone program provides phones for Pennsylvania residents with disabilities including deafness, hearing loss, speech impairment, blindness, visual problems, and physical or intellectual disabilities. The program offers a selection of no-cost phone equipment for those who meet all requirements. Staff can demonstrate phones to help people choose equipment that best meets their needs. Landline phone equipment is available to borrow through PA’s Assistive Technology Lending Library for even more hands-on time while deciding.

More about the Free Special Phone Program

The Free Special Phones program (PA’s Telecommunication Device Distribution Program – TDDP) is implemented by the Institute’s assistive technology unit, TechOWL, in conjunction with the PA Office of Vocational Rehabilitation and the PA Public Utility Commission.

Program Spotlight – Comprehensive Statewide Needs Assessment  

Informing the Pennsylvania State Plan.

Our team engages with disabled people, family members, employers, community organizations, providers, and others to learn about the employment services needed by Pennsylvanians with disabilities. We collect data through surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Comprehensive Statewide Needs Assessment (CSNA) findings are analyzed and published with recommendations in an annual and three-year comprehensive report to inform the Pennsylvania State Plan. The CSNA also examines spotlight issues like the opioid crisis, transportation, and the needs of people living with HIV/AIDS and long-COVID symptoms. 

More about CSNA

The Institute on Disabilities has conducted the CSNA since 2014, to inform the Pennsylvania State Plan and meet the requirements of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. The CSNA is supported by Pennsylvania’s Office of Vocational Rehabilitation and in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Rehabilitation Council.

We’re Here All Year

Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month is recognized nationally in March. The 2025 theme, “We’re Here All Year,” underscores the need for recognition, opportunities, and full participation every day, all year. Pennsylvanians are invited to reach out with questions about these spotlight programs or any of our activities. Visit our website to learn more about our work, available learning opportunities, and upcoming events. We’re here for you.

About Us

The Institute on Disabilities at Temple University is Pennsylvania’s University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research and Service, and home to Pennsylvania's Assistive Technology Act program, TechOWL PA.