Council Approves Resolution Aimed to Meet Needs of Residents with Developmental Differences

The Montgomery County Council unanimously approved a resolution at its session early Tuesday that would designate members of the Council to staff a work group to help address meeting the needs of residents with developmental differences.

Introduced by Councilmember George Leventhal, chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, the goal of the work group is to advance fair and equitable treatment of County residents, according to a news release.

“The goal of this work group is to provide a blueprint to address many of the important issues facing, not only individuals with developmental differences, but their family members and care givers,” said Leventhal. “Members of the work group will provide an in-depth examination of how individuals with developmental differences and their loved ones navigate services for things like housing assistance, transportation, job training and education and help us to identify areas that need improvement.”

The work group will include representatives from the county’s Health and Human Services, Transportation, Housing and Community Affairs and Recreation Departments as well as expertise from Montgomery County Public Schools and Montgomery College.

The 2016 American Community Survey reports that more than 29,000 people in Montgomery County identify as having a cognitive disability; with about 70% of those being less than 65 years of age.

In 2016, MCPS reported there were  2,386 special education students with Autism; 3,387 with a Developmental Delay; and 653 with an intellectual disability.

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