CDDO Reorganization

by: Stephanie Wilson

Starting July 1, 2004, Kansas will have 27 CDDOs rather than 28.   Approximately 2 years ago, the Barton County Commission voted to develop a plan to create an independent CDDO.   They submitted this plan to SRS, and the plan was approved.   The CDDO area in which Barton County existed also included the counties of Rush, Rice, Stafford and Pawnee.   All five counties have since decided to create an independent CDDO for their areas.   They sent out a request for proposals and have selected Southwest Developmental Services, Inc. (SDSI) out of Garden City to provide their CDDO functions.   SDSI is an existing independent CDDO for several counties.

The Alliance supported the proposal submitted to SRS to develop an independent CDDO in this region of the state, and supported the proposal submitted by SDSI to fulfill this role.   I attended the most recent public hearing, on behalf of The Alliance, to support the SDSI proposal.   The Alliance, including CLO, continues to support the concept of having impartial, independent CDDOs.   Currently, of the 27 CDDOs, four are independent of direct service provision.