AdvocacyDenver and The Arc Arapahoe, Douglas & Elbert Counties are excited to be sponsors of Viva Southwest Mariachi, featuring Lupita Infante and Mariachi Estelares de Colorado at Levitt Pavilion Denver.

Sunday, September 14, 2025
4:00 PM Doors | 5:00 PM Show
Levitt Pavilion Denver – 1380 W Florida Ave, Denver, CO

This free community concert will be a vibrant celebration of mariachi music, cultural pride, and togetherness – and we can’t wait to share more details with you soon.

Stay tuned for event highlights, ways to get involved, and how you can join us for an unforgettable evening.

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You have to know where you have been in order to know where you are going.

Know All Men By These Presents: That we the undersigned citizens of the United States, have associated ourselves for the purpose of forming a body corporate and politic, not for pecuniary profit, under the provisions of Article 13, Chapter 41 1935 Colorado Statutes Annotated, as amended by Chapter 124, 1951 Session Laws, and we hereby make, execute and acknowledge this certificate in writing of our intentions to become a body corporate and politic and by virtue of said statute.

FIRST. The corporate name of our said Corporation shall be The Denver County Chapter of the National Association for Retarded Children.

SECOND. The object for which our said Corporation is formed and incorporated is for the purpose of

1. To promote the general welfare. . .
2. To further the advancement of study . .
3. To develop better public understanding . . .
4. To further the training and education of personnel . . .
5. To encourage, aid and co-ordinate the work of local parent groups . . .
6. To further the implementation of legislation . . .
7. To serve as a clearing house for gathering and disseminating information and to foster the development of integrated programs . . .
8. To solicit and receive funds for accomplishment of the above purposes.

THIRD. The affairs and management of our said Corporation are to be under the control of an executive committee consisting of seven members Philip M. Russell, Joseph V. Calabrese, Albert Kane, Rachel Ryan, Mr. William Samuels, Mrs. Myron Wydell.

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, we have hereunto set our hands and seals, on the 12th day of May A.D. 1954.

Alfred Gallagher [SEAL]
Elizabeth M. Calabrese [SEAL]
Dorothey M. Kane [SEAL]
Shirley P. Samuels [SEAL]
Philip M. Russell [SEAL]
Joseph V. Calabrese [SEAL]

The purpose of our agency and how we forward our mission has not really changed in the past 70 years. In 1954 a team of parents served as the leaders of AdvocacyDenver. Looking through our archives we learned that in 1986 Bill Muth was the Board of Directors President and Cristine Boswell served as the Executive Director; in 1990 Josephine Fisher was the Board of Directors President and Terry Parks served as the Executive Director. In 1993 Carl Cignoni served as the Executive Director and Debra Stephen was the Board of Directors President; in 1977 Bill West served as the Executive Director and Bob Baca was the Board of Directors President. In 1980 Patricia Hale Killian was hired as the Executive Director for the agency. She was followed by Marcia Tewell and Aileen McGinley.

March 2018 Pamela Bisceglia was named Executive Director of ADVOCACYDENVER. The success of our organization has never been contingent on a single leader, but rather is the result of a talented team of professionals and volunteers working toward a shared goal. In 2024 Pamela had the honor of working with Linda Brooks, Michael Breeskin, Kaley Day, Seth Grove, Charlene Lawrence, Jennifer Levin, Jane Miyahara, Erika Montano, Melissa Palacio, Emily Park Friend, Heather Peters Jen Pringle, Jack Robinson, Michele Sandoval, Tony Sears and the ADVOCACYDENVER Board of Directors Mitch McKinney, Dan Rosenberg, Shauna Casement, Kent Olsen, Peggi O’Keefe, Donald Johnson, Raiko Johnson, Peggy Henninger, Hetty Pazos, Khoa Nguyen, Scott Baldermann, Don Morales and Ricky Garcia. Looking forward, we stand together to forward ADVOCACYDENVER’s mission:

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

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You have to know where you have been in order to know where you are going.

What do The Denver Board, Denver Options and Rocky Mountain Human Services have in common?   How about a center board, community centered board and case management agency? The Denver Board was the center board for Denver. Denver Options and Rocky Mountain Human Services served as the community centered board for Denver. Over the course of some 60 years, each provided case management and services to individuals with intellectual disabilities. With the roll out of conflict free case management, Rocky Mountain Human Services became the Case Management Agency for Denver and Adams County (2024).

Let’s take a minute to step back in time. In 1963, Colorado created a community-centered system to manage and provide support and services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

The Denver Post

Aid for Retarded Gets 1st OK

House members passed the measure HB 1090 on a preliminary reading without a dissenting vote…

Purpose of the bill is to establish centers, to the fullest extent possible, at the community level, both to improve training programs for the mentally retarded and to reduce state expense by cutting down the numbers of patients who must be in an institute.

The bill provides for a contribution by the state of up to one half of the annual cost of training or $500 a person whichever is less.

Programs were initially focused on children, but with time, legislation and funding, the focus was on providing support and services for individuals birth through life.  

By 1964 Arc chapters had been established in the metro area including Adams, Jefferson, and Arapahoe counties. Other agencies interested in the civil rights of marginalized communities opened their doors.  In the 60’s, 70’s, and into the 80’s much of our focus was on deinstitutionalization. The Arc of Denver/ADVOCACYDENVER understood then and now, that in order to realize systemic and policy change at a local and national level we must stand in solidarity with other like thinking agencies.

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You have to know where you have been in order to know where you are going.

ADVOCACYDENVER was established May 12, 1954, by parents to address the lack of access for children with disabilities to public education and in-home supports. It is important to remember in 1954, 1964, 1974 and even into the 80’s parents of children with intellectual disabilities were encouraged to institutionalize their child. This article pays tribute to the parents before us; the parents who refused to institutionalize their child, the pioneers of inclusion.

Many children and adults with intellectual disabilities were cared for in overcrowded, understaffed institutions that isolated them from their families and communities. The first patient was registered in 1912 and by 1936 there were 260 patients.  Ridge closed in 1990; the facility was demolished in 2007.

In 1928 going forward Denver Public Schools dabbled in providing school programming to some children with disabilities.  In 1928 the first class for the deaf and hard of hearing established in Denver.  1948 Denver began two classes at Evans School for children with intellectual disabilities.

In 1952 the General Assembly passed the first major legislation for the education of children with disabilities.  It included 5 categories: “aurally; educable mental; physically, speech and visually handicapped”.  Colorado Law discussed, but did not guarantee or mandate the education of children with disabilities.

ADVOCACYDENVER was established May 12, 1954, by parents to address the lack of access for children with disabilities to public education and in-home supports.

The 1965 Handicapped Children’s Education Act of amendments added the category of “educationally handicapped”.  Still, children with more significant disabilities were excluded and programming was contingent on space, funding availability of teachers or other professionals.  The public law allowed school districts to maintain waiting lists for services.

Suit seeks education for handicapped

Rocky Mountain News Sat. December 23, 1972

“A suit was filed in Denver U.S. District Court Friday to demand from the state equal educational opportunities for some 20,00 physically and mentally retarded youngsters.”

The suit was filed by the Colorado Association for Retarded Citizens and 19 youngsters. . .   Defendants include the State Department of Education, the State Board of Education, State Department of Institutions and 11 school districts.  Among the examples cited in the suite are:

• An 11-year-old Denver boy with Down Syndrome who was refused admission to Denver Public Schools.  His parents were paying tuition to Laradon Hall.
• A 9-year-old Denver boy with an IQ of 111 who is perceptually handicapped
• An 11-year-old Littleton girl who is epileptic and has an IQ of 90
• A 7-year-old Aurora boy with a visual perception limitation and a movement disability. He has an IQ of 115.

The suit asked for a declaration by the court that laws and rules denying an equal education to handicapped youngsters are unconstitutional and that officials be stopped from enforcing them.

1975 Public Law 94-142 Education for All Handicapped Children Act

The law supported more than 1 million children with disabilities who had been excluded entirely from the education system. The law also supported children with disabilities who had had only limited access to the education system and were therefore denied an appropriate education.

Guaranteed a “free, appropriate public education” to all children and youth with disabilities.

In 1986 the law was reauthorized and named the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”).   IDEA promised that children would be provided a free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. In the 1980s, going forward much of the focus of child and family advocacy has been to ensure that children are in fact educated in the least restrictive environment.  Arc of Denver’s Executive Director Marcia Tewell appropriately observed that decisions in relation to educational placement during the 80s and 90s were based on a list of historical labels like “educable/trainable/profound”. The Arc of Denver advocated children with disabilities participate in general education instruction with peers of the same age in their neighborhood school.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was reauthorized and amended in 1990 and 1997.

In 1997 Congress said:

“To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities will be educated with children who are not disabled, and special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of the children from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in the regular classroom with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily”.

Over the next two decades child and family advocates worked with families and schools to demand the children with disabilities be included.  April 10, 2018, AdvocacyDenver filed a systemic complaint against Denver Public Schools on behalf of five families.  AdvocacyDenver asserted that the district failed to provide supplementary aids and services in regular education classes, other education-related settings, and in extracurricular and nonacademic settings, to enable children with disabilities to be educated with nondisabled children to the maximum extent appropriate.  All five students were labeled as students with an intellectual disability. This was the first systemic complaint accepted by the Colorado Department of Education State Complaint Office.  The investigation took almost 5 months.  Students prevailed on all issues defined in the complaint.  Four of the students were fully included in their neighborhood school/school of choice in elementary, middle and high school.  One student graduated from high school in 2023.  This systemic complaint resulted in a countless number of students across the district  being afforded the opportunity to be educated in the same schools, same classrooms as nondisabled peers.

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You have to know where you have been in order to know where you are going.

In January, we provided Part I of the history of AdvocacyDenver. We were established May 12, 1954, by parents to address the lack of access for children with disabilities to public education and in-home support. Advocacy is the foundation of our agency. Individual advocacy is important, but real change, systemic change is the result of policy advocacy.

Think back to the founding families who in 1954 lobbied first at a local level and then a national level for public policy that would forward the rights of children with disabilities. At a national level Public Law 89-313 Elementary and Secondary Education Act Amendments of 1965 provided authorized grants to state institutions and state operated schools devoted to the education of children with disabilities. That same year, Colorado passed major legislation for the education of children with disabilities, The Handicapped Children’s Education Act of 1965.

In 1954 and the decades going forward AdvocacyDenver staff, parents, members, and community partners lobbied for policy focused on eliminating the barriers to education, employment, and community. AdvocacyDenver stood with community partners demanding policy to eliminate sheltered workshops; Protections of Persons from Restraint and Seclusion amendment to ban prone restraint; House Bill 14-1051 (Developmental Disabilities Strategic Plan) aimed at ending the wait list for services for individuals with intellectual nd developmental disabilities; Supported Decision Making as an alternative to guardianship…

Going forward AdvocacyDenver will actively lobby for national, state and local policy that advances best practices and the human/civil rights of individuals with disabilities and/or against policy that compromises those rights.

‘Champion for the Underserved’ Leaves Legacy of Wait List Reform

An interview with Catherine Strode from May 8, 2014

After six years in office, State Representative Sue Schafer (House District 24) is not seeking reelection. It is her vision that along with her personal retirement will come the retirement of the term, ‘the wait list.’ The passage of House Bill 14-1051, which she sponsored this session, provides for a strategic plan to retire not only the term, but the existence of, the wait list for services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities by the year 2020.

In an interview with Catherine Strode, the Health Care Advocacy Program’s Consultant, Representative Schafer discusses the goals of House Bill 14-1051 and how the bill represents her work as a legislator, her contribution to the state, and, her legacy.

Read More…

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You have to know where you have been in order to know where you are going.

I am the parent of a child who was identified as having a disability shortly after birth.  I remember carefully preparing a list of behaviors I would model or avoid as a parent and the topics I felt I could comfortably discuss:

• I will verbally express my unconditional love for my child.
• I will never spank.
• I am human and make mistakes — I can and will apologize to my child when I am at fault.
• We are sexual human beings — I will be prepared to anticipate and answer my child’s questions in relation to physical development, and sexuality.

Along with the promise to answer questions in relation to physical development and sexuality, I understood it was important to teach boundaries.  Boundaries included who in your circle do you give or receive a hug, when and where can you masturbate, attire when answering the door, etc. 

For decades The Arc of Denver/AdvocacyDenver reminded families of their role to teach or model their values in relation to sexuality.  For decades The Arc of Denver/AdvocacyDenver advocated that public schools provide all students instruction in life science curriculum.  For decades The Arc of Denver/AdvocacyDenver encouraged public policy that recognizes that individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (“IDD”) should enjoy the same liberties to marriage, parenting and to proudly identify as heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender expansive, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual and two spirit.

AdvocacyDenver is a member of a growing contingency in the IDD community that recognizes comprehensive sexuality and relationship education as a means of protection for vulnerable individuals. Data shows that individuals with disabilities are victimized at a higher rate than the larger population. Empowering clients to understand their bodily autonomy and right to choose what happens to their body provides a foundation to exercise consent and self-advocacy when abuse does occur. 

Today and going forward, AdvocacyDenver facilitates training and provides short webinars in English and Spanish on a list of sexuality topics including consent, public versus private, gender identity and expression.  To learn more go to: https://www.advocacydenver.org/category/webinar/sex-ed/

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You have to know where you have been in order to know where you are going.

The foundation of AdvocacyDenver is advocacy. In the first years parents supported each other, advancing the dream that one day all children would be able to attend school. For decades countless number of advocates worked tirelessly to forward the human rights of children and adults with disabilities. Over time we realized change in the different public systems. Sometimes change was a result of collaborative work championing legislation and forwarding systemic change, and sometimes leaders would listen. Other times system leaders, in particular school systems, would lawyer up and taunt advocates to “bring it on”.

According to Wikipedia an advocate is a professional in the field of law. In 2002 The Arc of Denver and the Association for Community Living embarked on adding a legal representation program for parents of children with disabilities. With time the Legal Representation Program found its forever home at The Arc of Denver. September 2009, the Legal Representation Program was renamed The Center for Special Education Law. For over two decades The Center for Special Education Law has provided representation to Colorado parents and their children with disabilities. Furthermore, The Center has been instrumental in defining case law that touches public school students across the US.

Looking forward . . .

When contacted by an attorney who represents parents in issues related to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, an attorney for the school district said, “we didn’t think the parent could afford an attorney.” It speaks to the fact that school districts respond to privilege; that is, in this case the district admitted fault but did not think the family had the resources to challenge their decision. AdvocacyDenver looks forward, to expanding The Center for Special Education Law. Looking forward The Center for Special Education Law will prioritize the most egregious cases; looking forward, representation will be provided on a sliding scale or pro-bono.

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You have to know where you have been in order to know where you are going.

In AdvocacyDenver History Part I we said that the Denver County Chapter of the National Association for Retarded Children was established May 12, 1954, by parents to address the lack of access for children with disabilities to public education and in-home supports. With time the capitol C stood for citizen. The Denver association moved to an acronym ARC and eventually our articles of incorporation were modified to Arc of Denver. Officially we are Arc of Denver doing business as AdvocacyDenver. Why the name change; why did we rebrand?

Truth be told, participants in People First and Arc Junior were the first to champion a name change. Last month we provided an overview of the important work of youth and adults with disabilities. Some of the more contentious work centered around the campaign to eliminate the “r” word.

Certainly, there was agreement that the word should be eliminated in policy and rules, but more important, everyday vocabulary. Where there was disagreement was in the name of not only our Denver chapter, but the state and national organization.

In Colorado there was, and is, the Arc of Colorado, The Association for Community Living (which is a chapter of the Arc), a growing list of Arc chapters and arc Thrift Stores. Clients were cheered as they initiated letter writing campaigns, testified in public arenas and at the capitol, but Arc disability staff cautioned youth and adults in their letter writing campaign to eliminate the “r” in Arc; having said that, youth and adults were not convinced that Arc is not an acronym.

January 2009, the Arc of Denver embarked on strategic planning. Staff, Board members and other chapter members including youth and adults met and agreed that the name of the agency must pay homage to the “A” in the Arc, no not Association, rather ADVOCACY. This is a tribute to the parents, adults, and community before us that stood firm advocating for the human rights of children and adults with disabilities. We are Denver and so on September 15, 2009 we became known as ADVOCACYDENVER.

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You have to know where you have been in order to know where you are going.

Last month we talked about the early years of our organization and our guardianship program where the advocates before us took pride in working to move adults from institutional settings to community settings with appropriate support. For many of these adults it was the first time they felt they had a voice in terms of when they would get up in the morning, what they would eat, wear and how they would spend their free time. At the same time advocates were working with adults who were raised at home, some attended “special” programs in a public school, some attended a separate school, and some were only “allowed” to attend school for a while… Everyone’s journey was different. Some remembered being bullied, called names, and each experienced adversity. People First was established in the mid-sixties as a grassroots movement to empower self-advocates with disabilities to have a voice in addressing issues of equality. People first language puts the person before the disability.

People First Mission Statement

The mission of People First is to help empower all people who have disabilities. To work with people to help them understand, support, and respect our rights and abilities to be fully included in our communities. To improve our skills and leadership, learning about rights and responsibilities and work on legislation to improve our quality of life. To provide opportunities to learn new skills and be involved in Self-Advocacy. To share common concerns, to come together and work as a strong team and have people everywhere recognize we are PEOPLE FIRST!

In looking through our archives we are not able to pinpoint the first time that Denver self-advocates came together. However, our walls are graced with photographs of determined adults coming together for different activities, the first People First Conference, the Close the Doors Campaign for Freedom:

Wear a yellow ribbon to remember the people who are still locked in institutions against their will. We believe that all institutions, both private and public should be closed. All people regardless of the severity of their disabilities should live in the community with the support they need.

Clarence, Michele, Charlene, Phil, Carlos, Paul, Doris, and Vickie, to name a few, led the charge. Advisors worked to keep up with trips to the Colorado State Capitol to testify in favor or opposition of legislation. There were writing campaigns and trips to Washington to demand that national leaders forward the human rights of individuals with disabilities. Self-advocates paved the way for today’s youth. Today, some youth remind us to use people-first language, but many proudly state their disability first and their pronoun/identity second. Today our youth and adults forward disability justice.

Disability Justice: a social justice movement which focuses on examining disability and ableism as they relate to other forms of oppression and identity such as race, class and gender.

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It is important to know where we have been, in order to know where we are going.

On occasion, AdvocacyDenver will get a call or a referral, where a family member or provider will ask if we provide guardianship services or could serve as a guardian for an adult with an intellectual and developmental disability. This question is not outside of the norm; there are many chapters of The Arc that offer guardianship services.

In the early years much of the focus of our agency was on the education of children with disabilities. With time, the focus of advocacy was on individuals, birth through life, with intellectual and developmental disabilities. At the turn of the century and mid-century parents were expected to institutionalize their child. Some children and adults lived in private facilities, others became a ward of the state.

By the 70’s Denver ARC had a small staff of advocates that worked with parents as well as adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In the spirit of true advocacy, their work took them into the nursing homes and institutes that housed individuals young and old with disabilities. The April 1986 publication of Denver ARC’s newsletter MOMENTUM discussed Denver ARC’s guardianship program.

The program was a part of an advocacy effort to move individuals from most restrictive setting into their community with appropriate supports. With time for some of our former “wards”, guardianship became more limited or was terminated. Today AdvocacyDenver no longer serves as guardian to any adult.

Our mission then and now is to promote and protect the human rights of people with disabilities and actively support their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes. Today when a family asks about guardianship, AdvocacyDenver explains the different options to the family and the adult, share the names of community agencies, but also encourage them to consider Supported Decision-Making.

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