The 2025 Strategic Plan Annual Report below is available in multiple languages and posted on this page. The 2024 Strategic Plan Annual report can be viewed here. As always, if you need a document in a language other than the ones listed, please contact the …
Dear Friends and Colleagues, I’m excited to share our 2025 Annual Report, which highlights the progress we’ve made under OPWDD’s 2023-2027 Strategic Plan. This past year has been all about listening to you—people receiving services, their families, …
Dear Friends and Colleagues, Since taking office, Governor Hochul has kept her promise of a more inclusive New York for people with developmental disabilities by investing in programs that promote independence, inclusion and opportunity for all. Proposals …
Dear Friends and Colleagues, As we wrap up 2025, I am so grateful for the many steps forward we took together over the last twelve months. When I officially stepped into my role as your Commissioner earlier this year, I talked about our future and I vowed …
"It’s up to us to make sure we talk about what our rights are, exercise our rights, and make sure that everyone knows what they are and follows them." - Chester Finn, Accessing Life Co-host Chester and BJ bring you a special live episode …
Dear Friends and Colleagues, I am pleased to announce that Guidehouse, the consulting firm OPWDD hired to review its Self-Direction model in March 2024, has released its Self-Direction Assessment Final Report. This comprehensive report follows an extensive …
OPWDD hired a company called Guidehouse to look at the Self-Direction model and give suggestions about how to make improvements. As part of the review, Guidehouse talked to people who are self directing and to the service providers that support them. …
"Any employer that's coming to the DREAM Symposium event knows the value of hiring a person with a disability and wants to do so." - Kim Hill Ridley, New York State's Chief Disability Officer talking about the DREAM Symposium coming up on …
Dear Colleagues and Friends, I am pleased to share that OPWDD recently convened its inaugural meeting of the Developmental Disabilities Taskforce on Aging—a collaborative initiative between my office and the Developmental Disabilities Advisory Council ( …
Dear Friends and Colleagues, On September 5th, Governor Kathy Hochul issued an Executive Order declaring a Statewide Disaster Emergency to protect access to COVID-19 vaccines in New York, following recent federal actions that have threatened vaccine access …
Dear Friends and Colleagues, This week - September 7-13, 2025 - we proudly celebrate National Direct Support Professional Recognition Week. It’s a meaningful time for all of us at the Office for People With Developmental Disabilities, our provider agencies …
Dear Friends and Colleagues, This Sunday, August 17, is National Nonprofit Day, a day when we recognize the incredible work that nonprofits do and the impact they have on our communities. The Office for People With Developmental Disabilities is so …
The next public meeting of the Developmental Disabilities Advisory Council (DDAC) will be held Tuesday, July 22 from 11 am until 2 pm. The meeting will be held in person in Albany at the Empire State Plaza, Meeting Room 7. You may also join at one of our …
Dear Friends and Colleagues, As I travel around the state, meeting with self-advocates, family members of people with disabilities, and our not-for-profit providers, I am overwhelmed by the fear and uncertainty you are experiencing about the federal cuts …
"I come to the system as a family member of someone with a developmental disability. We're making sure that self-advocates and family advocates are as involved as possible." - Willow Baer, OPWDD Commissioner In this episode Chester and BJ …
Willow Baer was officially confirmed as Commissioner of OPWDD after a full vote of the New York Senate on May 21 after being nominated for the position by Governor Kathy Hochul. If you missed the Commissioner's message after her confirmation, you can …
Dear Friends and Colleagues, An integral part of providing services to people with developmental disabilities is ensuring that we are reaching all communities within the larger disability community. I am excited to announce that, as OPWDD continues …
Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the confirmation of three members of her cabinet. “New Yorkers deserve smart, experienced professionals at every level of government, and these leaders have distinguished themselves as public servants,” Governor Hochul …
Dear Friends and Colleagues, I am incredibly honored and humbled to have been nominated by Governor Hochul, and confirmed earlier today by the New York State Senate, as the Commissioner of the Office for People With Developmental Disabilities. For the last …
Dear Friends and Colleagues, Today is Nurses Day and the start of National Nurses Week. This year’s theme for Nurses Week selected by the American Nurses Enterprise is the “The Power of Nurses,” and it is a fitting theme not just for the nurses who work at …
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