Lesson 5: FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Question 1: Our ABLE Account program staff asked for federal funds to offer incentives to people for opening an account. Can we do this?

Answer: No. Using federal funds in this manner is considered an incentive and not allowable.

Question 2: If a Council member is representing their child or a family member who cannot advocate for themselves, and their family member dies, can they continue to serve as a Council member?

Answer: Yes. The member would serve their remaining term but would not be eligible for reappointment. A Program Instruction is available for your reference.

Question 3: Are Councils required to have specific committees?

Answer: No. The DD Act and other regulations do not require specific committees. DD Councils can and do operate with committees and the committee structure is determined by the Council. Executive Committees are the most common and other committees are developed to help the Council implement their state plan. Other committees frequently used are Legislative or Public Policy, State Plan or State plan projects, Membership or Nominating.

Question 4: I understand my DD Council cannot provide financial incentives with our basic state grant award funds, but if our subgrantee wants to provide a cash incentive to get people involved in the Council funded project, can the grantee use that dollar amount as part of their match?

Answer: No. Match funds (whether cash or in-kind) must also be allowable. In this case, incentives are unallowable, so any match for incentives would also be unallowable.

Question 5: Do the self-advocacy requirements have to be in one objective?

Answer: The expectation is that there will be a goal or objective for the required self-advocacy activities. The self-advocacy efforts include 1) establishing or strengthening a self-advocacy program led by people with developmental disabilities, 2) supporting opportunities for self-advocate leaders to provide training to other self-advocates who may become leaders, and 3) supporting and expanding participation in cross-disability, culturally diverse leadership coalitions.

Reminder 1: The DD Act requires Council staff to report separate information on the self-advocacy goal or objective (Public Law 106-402, Section 125 ( c) (7)(D)). Creating a goal or objective with all self-advocacy activities included can assist the Council staff with data collection, monitoring, and evaluation activities to determine progress made and impact for people with developmental disabilities.

Question 6: If a Council member is representing their child or a family member who cannot advocate for themselves, and their family member dies, can they continue to serve as a Council member?

Answer: Yes. The member would serve their remaining term but would not be eligible for reappointment. A program instruction is available for your reference.

Question 7: If someone applies to be a Council member as a guardian of a child or adult who cannot advocate for themselves, do they need to be a legal guardian?

Answer: Yes. A legal guardian is someone who has been court appointed to care for another person and make decisions on their behalf. A Governor’s appointments office staff member should be able to tell you what their process is to determine if someone is a legal guardian.

Question 8: Can the DD Network Collaboration activity also be the targeted disparity or self-advocacy activities?

Answer: Yes. Review the requirements for each and clearly mark the item as DD network Collaboration and Self-Advocacy or Targeted Disparity.

Have your own question? Councils may visit https://itacchelp.org/individualized-ta-form/ to complete a technical assistance form and submit their questions.

“Now that we’ve reviewed some frequently asked questions, let’s explore some resources that can be helpful for Councils making advocacy decisions. Select ‘Mark Complete’ below to continue.”