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Contact UsIntroduction
The Dan Thompson Memorial Developmental Disabilities Community Services Account was created in 2005 after the death of Dan Thompson. Dan was an advocate, a Microsoft employee, and a person with a developmental disability. In 2021, the account received $50 million from the Washington State Legislature. The Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) is required to get recommendations from the Developmental Disabilities Council (DDC) on how to spend funds from the account. The DDC created the Dan Thompson Advisory Committee to identify priorities and create an application process to distribute funding.
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About this Program
About the Dan Thompson Memorial Developmental Disabilities Community Services Account
As of August 2021, there is about $55 million in the account. The legislature said they plan to put another $1 million in the account each year. $5 million of the current balance is from deposits between 2005 and 2021. The other $50 million came from federal funding through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021. The ARPA part of the account balance must be spent by the end of June 2023 and has some other requirements about how it is spent.
The Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) is required to get recommendations from the Developmental Disabilities Council (DDC) on how to spend the funding. The DDC created the Dan Thompson Advisory Committee to identify priorities and create an application process. DSHS will make the final decisions about which projects to fund. Organizations will be required to report on how the funding is being spent.
Apply for Funding
The first application deadline was on October 8, 2021. Please check back again for future opportunities to submit proposals.
Funding Requirements:
- Funding proposals must supplement (not replace, supplant, or reduce) community-based supports and services.
- Funding proposals must be one-time investments.
- Funding proposals must benefit people who are eligible to receive services from the Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA). This includes people who are currently receiving DDA services, as well as people who are on the No Paid Services (NPS) Caseload and not currently receiving DDA services.
- Funding proposals must improve or enhance the Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) system.
- Funds can be used for capital projects (e.g. building homes, buildings, etc.)
Other Factors:
- Priority consideration will be given to projects that do one or more of these:
The Fund Invests in:
- Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities
- Rural communities
- Other historically marginalized or under-served communities
- Use culturally responsive strategies. “Culturally responsive” means being respectful of other people’s cultures and learning from them.
- Have strong sustainability plans for after the one-time funding is spent
- Involve collaboration with other community partners
Members
Program Updates
The Department of Social and Health Services’ Developmental Disabilities Administration is excited to announce the release of the new application for the Dan Thompson Memorial Developmental Disabilities Community Services Account funding!
DSHS' Developmental Disabilities Administration seeks to award $4.5 million in Dan Thompson Memorial Developmental Disabilities Community Services Account grants to organizations providing supports and services in a community setting to benefit people with developmental disabilities eligible for DDA services.
Please see the below link for more information.
DSHS Developmental Disabilities Administration and the Developmental Disabilities Council would like to thank our communities for their interest and applications for funding from the Dan Thompson Memorial Developmental Disabilities Community Services Account during the 2021 - 2023 biennial budget. At this time, all applications that were selected and awarded are currently in contract with DDA, Housing Trust Fund or the Local Government Division within the Department of Commerce or were not selected to be awarded.
There will be no further consideration of the applications submitted for funding from that first round of proposals. Of the total number of applications received from the DDC, DDA executed 68 contracts and Department of Commerce executed eight from Housing Trust Fund and seven from Local Government Division.
With input from the community through multiple listening sessions and online surveys, a new application for round two funding will be launching on Dec. 1, 2023. We thank you again and look forward to reviewing new creative and innovative proposals to meet the needs of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the community.
Seeking your input! DDA is asking for your participation to provide input on future awards from the Dan Thompson Memorial Developmental Disabilities Community Services Account. We want to hear from you about what the process should look like and what type of projects should be funded. Please complete the survey below by close of business Oct. 13.
There is approximately $5 million dollars in the Dan Thompson Account for new applications to be spent by June 30, 2025.
RCW 71A.20.170 (6) states “Expenditures from the account must supplement, and may not replace, supplant, or reduce current state expenditure levels for supports and services in the community setting for eligible persons with developmental disabilities.” This means that grant awards cannot pay for services covered by DDA Home and Community Based Services waivers or Medicaid State Plan services.
Thank you for your input. The survey results will influence the design of the next round of applications for Dan Thompson Account funding. Please click the link below to participate in the survey!
DSHS's Developmental Disabilities Administration awarded $50 million from the Dan Thompson Memorial Developmental Disabilities Community Services Account in 2022-2023. The account was created in 2005 after the death of Dan Thompson under Revised Code of Washington (RCW 71A.20.170). Expenditures from the account must supplement and not replace or reduce current state expenditure levels for supports and services in the community for eligible people with developmental disabilities. There were awards in 19 counties within the state. Overall, more than $21 million or 40 percent of the funds were spent through June 2023. The projects continue with the remaining funds to be spent by June2025 in the 23-25 biennium. There are 56 executed contracts and 15 more in process. Additionally, there are 15 capital projects executed through an interagency agreement with the Department of Commerce.
The Dan Thompson Account continues to award organizations across Washington! Check out the most recent update here: Dan Thompson Trust Acct Update
DSHS’ Developmental Disabilities Administration is excited to provide an update regarding projects funded by the Dan Thompson Memorial Developmental Disabilities Community Services Account.
DDA has received over 100 recommended project proposals from the Washington State Developmental Disabilities Council. Of these, more than 50% are now fully executed contracts with the remainder to be finalized in the coming months. Since our last update, we have fully executed an additional 18 contracts to a value of $11,386,181 bringing the total number of contracts in effect to 51 and awarded amount thus far to more than $18.5 million. Please see the below link for more information.
The Washington State Developmental Disabilities Council and the Developmental Disabilities Administration within Washington State DSHS are excited to provide an update regarding the status of awardees and expenditures from the Dan Thompson Memorial Developmental Disabilities Community Services Account. To date, DDA has awarded just over $9 million on 35 executed contracts across the state. Four additional contracts are currently pending, and many more signed contracts are expected to be finalized later in the upcoming months.
“Each application is so unique, and we are very excited about the variety of supports and services across our state to meet gaps identified by our stakeholders,” said Debbie Roberts, DSHS Assistant Secretary for DDA. Learn more here.
Over $9 Million Awarded!
The Washington State Developmental Disabilities Council and the Developmental Disabilities Administration within Washington State DSHS are excited to provide an update regarding the status of awardees and expenditures from the Dan Thompson Memorial Developmental Disabilities Community Services Account. To date, DDA has awarded just over $9 million on 35 executed contracts across the state. Four additional contracts are currently pending, and many more signed contracts are expected to be finalized later in the upcoming months.
“Each application is so unique, and we are very excited about the variety of supports and services across our state to meet gaps identified by our stakeholders,” said Debbie Roberts, DSHS Assistant Secretary for DDA. Learn more here!
On 11/1/22, the Developmental Disabilities Council (DDC) sent 24 proposals to the Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) requesting funding from the Dan Thompson Memorial Developmental Disabilities Community Services Account. These proposals were prioritized from the original DDC recommendations that were denied during DDA’s review process or withdrawn by the applicant. The DDC selected new recommendations based on the scoring of applications by the original teams of stakeholders. The total amount of unfunded applications is $9,182,303.00. The DDA will review the recommendations and make final funding decisions. A list of the new recommendations may be found here.
Please contact Danthompson@dshs.wa.gov if you have questions or need more information.
