Family and Community Together (FACT)

Fact Oregon and its mission and historythe mission of Family and Community Together (dba fact Oregon) is to empower Oregon families experiencing disability in pursuit of whole lives. We support families to hold high expectations and set a positive trajectory, to navigate special education and disability systems and services with a whole life in mind, and to advocate for the supports their children need to thrive at home, in school, and in Community, growing in self-advocacy and self-determination. Founded in 2002, fact Oregon first served the developmental and intellectual disability Community in the portland metro area. We quickly became cross-disability and grew our reach regionally. Since 2012, we have served the entire state (continued on schedule o)as Oregon's parent training & information center, with contracts from the us department of education and Oregon department of education. Fact Oregon staff, board, and volunteers serve on numerous statewide committees and partner coalitions. A few include the state advisory council on special education, the state interagency coordinating council, the state rehabilitation council, the Oregon consortium of Family networks, the Oregon dd coalition, and the Oregon partners for education justice. In 2019, fact Oregon undertook significant work in diversity, equity, and inclusion, leading to an equity statement approved by the board in 2020 which continues to guide and direct our work. In 2021, fact Oregon rebranded with the tagline empowering families |transforming disability and developed and adopted a statement of principles which lays out core values and beliefs.oregonians with disabilities routinely experience segregation and discrimination, with inequitable access to education, Community, employment, and relationship-building. This leads to lives of limited growth, social isolation, loneliness, poor health outcomes, and underemployment for individuals with disabilities. Students with disabilities are far more likely to be segregated from their peers in school, held to low academic standards, and disproportionately disciplined without sufficient behavioral support interventions. This leads directly to some of the worst basic proficiency scores in reading and math, a lack of social Community, and the worst graduation rate in the state. It sets up youth with disabilities for lives as adults who are segregated in every way and under supported to have meaningful relationships, further learning opportunities, work aligned with their interests and skills, and housing of their choosing. The covid-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted families with disability, disrupting efforts to practice whole life planning, youth self-determination, and positive behavior supports. 45-50% of calls to our support line in 2021-22 related to behavior compared to 25-30% pre-pandemic.families are hungry for support, resources, and action to change these outcomes. Families and youth with disabilities need early, accurate, and family-friendly information and support to develop a vision of a whole, full life, to access and navigate disability and special education services and systems, and to advocate for systems change that will make Oregon communities more accessible and inclusive of people with disabilities.fact Oregon strives to interrupt the cycle of segregation and poor outcomes for people with disabilities by helping families, youth, and professionals who support families and youth, to hold high expectations, have a shared vision of a whole, full life, and take steps to make that vision possible. Our programs and services:disrupt ableism and change how people think about disability.highlight the importance of self-determination and whole lives.help families support children's growth and well-being in school, at home, and in community.fact Oregon holds contracts as Oregon's parent & technology information center from the u.s. department of education office of special education and the Oregon department of education to assist families with special education related concerns. In addition, fact Oregon provides support and trainings covering a range of other issues that impact our families, including assistive technology, behavior, inclusive recreation, disability awareness, service system navigation, person-centered planning, transition to adulthood, and more. Community-building initiatives such as the all ability tri4youth, family-friendly events, and disability awareness programs further our goal to help families pursue whole lives in their natural communities. Fact Oregon currently engages with over 13,000 families, Community partners, and professionals across the state. Our families represent a wide range of disabilities including cognitive, developmental, behavioral, physical, neurological, and mental health disabilities. 31% of families reporting relevant demographics are from communities of color, with 18% identifying as hispanic/latino. 68% have school-aged children; 23% have young adults 18-26; 9% have kids five and under. 31% of families are low-income. 10% require support in a language other than english. Fact Oregon provides direct support in spanish and collaborates with a language line to support families speaking other languages. 2021-22 was a year of significant change, with focus on processes, efficiencies, staff onboarding, and direct and responsive support to families. In september 2021, roberta dunn announced her resignation, and the board hired a nonprofit consultant to help identify organizational strengths and needs and guide us through a search process and organizational restructure. In january 2022, former deputy director christy reese was officially named executive director, and several staff were promoted to leadership team level. Additionally, over 1/3 of our staff was hired and onboarded in 2021-22. Under our new leadership, fact Oregon has reimagined our support line and invested in new technologies internally to help us manage projects, provide trainings, promote staff and coalition collaboration, and provide seamless and responsive support to families. Our data capture and reporting capacity has greatly improved, and families overwhelmingly report that the support we give them is helpful, empathetic, easy to understand, grows their knowledge, and provides them with ideas for clear next steps to take in their advocacy. Also, during the 2021-22 fiscal year, we launched our activate your advocacy parent leadership program. Over the course of two separate cohorts, we trained 55 emerging parent leaders from across the state. 68-75% of each cohort were parents of youth with disabilities who also intersected with underserved communities based on race/ethnicity, language, rural geography, and/or their own disability.