DANEO developed from another advocacy organization – United Families of Eastern Ontario – which formed in 2008. UFEO was a coalition of local organizations representing individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. One of their key objectives was to represent a “unified” voice in the many discussions around reform of the developmental services delivery system.
Some of the original alliance groups included:
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Ottawa
- Lifetime Networks Ottawa
- Ontario Rett Syndrome Association
- Family Alliance Ontario
- Families Matter Coop
- Walk In My Shoes
- QuickStart – Autism
- Down Syndrome Association – National Capital Region
All of these groups continued to do the family support, program development and information sharing for their membership.
Some of the advocacy inventions performed by UFEO were:
- Representation on the formation of the local DSO
- Letter-writing campaign against changes to Special Services at Home program
- Regular meetings with local MPPs to ensure issues affecting individuals with developmental disabilities were well represented
- Representation to the Select Committee on Developmental Services in 2014 which resulted in the report: Inclusion and Opportunity
- Input to the Ontario Auditor General’s review of residential services for individuals with intellectual disabilities which reported in 2014
- Input to the Ontario Special Needs Strategy – for children and youth (2015)
We thank all those who spent time and energy to build a strong advocacy base in Eastern Ontario.