The published goals of the DMRS are: All Tennesseans with disabilities have the opportunity and needed support to develop a vision for their future, live in a place of their own choosing, work at a satisfying job, have friends and other relationships in their lives, feel accepted, and participate in and contribute to their community.

The Arlington Agreement and Settlement Agreement are major issue affecting the coordination and delivery of services to Tennesseans with mental retardation.

Many staff from DMRS are heroically attempting to implement settlement agreements that are based upon a foundation of democratic ideals that acknowledge all citizens have rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The settlement agreements are but a reaffirmation of these fundamental rights. In the hustle and bustle of implementation it is easy to forget the core reasons upon which the settlement agreements are built.

Shortly before sunset, a stranger walked up a hill toward his destination. As he crested the hill, he observed villagers scurrying from the lake to the beach. Men, women and children were scooping water from the lake and carrying the water in their hands, buckets, cups, and bowls 100 yards from the water. As the sun set, their pace quickened. Many fell to the beach too exhausted to continue. Only the strongest continued to empty their containers onto the beach. The stranger approached one of the exhausted villagers and asked, "Excuse me sir, what are you doing?" The villager said, "Stranger, any damned fool can see we are trying to keep the sun from sinking into the lake."

Recently, staff returned from a regional meeting with a homemade poster that proclaims, "It’s about the settlement, get over it." Like the villagers, some of our partners are busy to the point of exhaustion, trying to implement pieces of the settlement agreement. The minutiae of settlement agreements fill their perception of reality. As they work harder and harder to implement the Community Plan, they, and many of us, have forgotten, "It’s about people, get with it."

This suggested perceptual shift is not meant to minimize the importance of implementing the settlement agreements. It is intended to suggest that our common ground will not be found in the rules, procedures, and demands for a reconstructed service delivery system. Our common ground lies in shared democratic values.

We have been given a leadership role by the DMRS in helping persons with mental retardation become citizens.

2000 years ago, a great leader once said, "I have come so that people can have life, and have it more abundantly." We, along with our partners, are joined in pursuit of helping persons with mental retardation have life more abundantly. Sometimes hidden in our pursuit to implement the ideals contained in the settlement agreements, is the equally important pursuit of helping family members and others who live in community to have life more abundantly. A commitment to abundance means helping people share their lives together in pursuit of building nurturing communities. Nurturing communities are places where people share joy in each other’s accomplishments. They are places where people share commitment to protection, health, and wellness for all. They are places where the central value shared by all is the value of each other.

DMRS would like for their partners to join with them in pursuit of meeting their mission and vision for Tennesseans with disabilities. They would like to know what is working and what isn’t. They would like to be part of a partnership that is working together for the good of persons with mental retardation, families, and others who make up the greater community of which we are all a part.

We would like our partners and colleagues in DMRS to move beyond the narrow confines of the settlement agreement and provide leadership in finding common ground for now and our future. Our vision should not be the disengagement phase of the settlement agreements. Our vision needs to be focused on the mission, values, and outcomes shared by all stakeholders for a better life for all in Tennessee.

There is a cynicism and frustration about the amount of paper work required for proof of settlement agreement implementation. Many Independent Support Coordinators feel like the little boy on the potty whose mother says, "The job isn’t over until the paper work is finished." Although it is a constant frustration for many Independent Support Coordinators, there is a consensus that paper work is important in our culture, especially when litigation is involved. It would be helpful if DMRS would fund improvements and changes to the ISP software package. It would also be helpful if a modem direct system be established for billing, support notes, ISP’s, and other communications with DMRS.

In our efforts to find common ground, we would like assistance from DMRS to try some of the following: 1) Provide funding for provider organizations to enable them to conduct community employment audits for persons with mental retardation. 2) Provide grants for provider organization staff to visit organizations where the broad mission, values, and vision of the community plan can be viewed and discussed between peers. 3) Offer mentors using DMRS grants to provider organizations in the areas of natural supports, supported employment, and other areas relating to the implementation of the community plan. 4) Bring partners and shareholders together to seek common ground and build a blue-print for working together for the good of citizens of Tennessee with mental retardation and the communities in which they live.

In the final analysis, we need to help each other find agreement on shared goals and outcomes. Without shared purposes, we will not be able to create a culture of responsibility that is necessary for social change.

 Release Date: 12/10/98