The Arc of Washington State

Mission

To promote and protect the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and actively supporting their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes.

Who We Are

The Arc of Washington State has spent almost ninety years advancing and advocating for the interests of children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) (read more about our groundbreaking history here).

We work tirelessly to uphold our vision that every individual and family living with IDD in Washington State has access to the information, advocacy, and supports they need to be valued members of their communities, with the opportunity to realize their full potential and a future that is secure.  

We offer guidance to those who need help and emotional support, promote the self-sufficiency, independence and inclusion of children and adults with developmental disabilities in education, employment, and community living, encourage progressive legislation that improves the lives of people with IDD, support self-advocacy and empower the voices of people with lived experience, provide education and programs, and promote and fund research.

Most recently, we are proud to have advocated alongside our partners across the state to accomplish:

• an increase in the development of housing units for people with IDD and the number of DD housing developers, particularly in smaller nonprofit DD-serving organizations;
• highlighting the declining usage of community-based services and lack of providers due to low provider wages;
• an additional $5M toward inclusive practices funding to schools and additional funds to train teachers and other educational staff on techniques that reduce harmful restraint and isolation practices;
• highlighting the gaps and issues on respite funding for working families and providing leadership on changes to the waiver program in order to create more opportunities for people to get a break and access to meaningful activities;
• preventing the destruction of historical records that illustrate the history of treatment of people with IDD in Washington.

This summer, in June 2025, we are excited to be the co-host of the National Developmental Disabilities Legislative Symposium, co-chaired by Representative Jamila Taylor (D). Representative Taylor, a sibling of a family member with IDD herself, is the creator of the Developmental Disabilities Action Caucus in our state legislature.

As we count our achievements, we are still all too aware that Washington state persistently and stubbornly ranks in the bottom ten in the United States in fiscal effort toward services for people with developmental disabilities. We still haven’t invested in sufficient amounts for people with IDD to live in our own communities.

Will you join us in the fight today by making a donation to The Arc of Washington State?

Your donation supports our most essential advocacy activities: hiring advocacy staff, organizing community members, going to Olympia, meeting with legislators, and gathering needed input from our grassroots membership. Together, alongside families and folks with IDD, we are working every day to collaborate, coordinate, and create opportunities to build a better future together.