COPA

3 Cedar Street Extension, Suite 2

Cohoes, NY 12047

518.436.0467

In 2016, five associations representing more than 250 agencies that provide supports and services for people with disabilities and their families, formed the Coalition of Provider Associations (COPA) to address legal and policy issues affecting people with disabilities and the organizations providing the supports and services critical to their ability to live as productively and independently as possible in their homes and communities.

The five associations – the Alliance of Long Island Agencies, Inc. (ALIA), Cerebral Palsy Associations of New York State (CP of NYS), the Developmental Disabilities Alliance of Western New York (DDAWNY), the InterAgency Council of Developmental Disabilities Agencies (IAC), and the New York Association of Emerging & Multicultural Providers (NYAEMP) – represent providers of supports and services to approximately 100,000 New Yorkers with developmental disabilities – supporting two of every three people receiving services across the State.

COPA works collaboratively to ensure that laws and government policies at both the state and federal levels provide the resources necessary to give people with disabilities an equal opportunity to live fulfilling and productive lives. COPA works to raise awareness of critical issues, educate legislators about the need to adequately fund supports and services and provide data and information to restore, maintain and enhance the gains made by people with disabilities and their families over the past 40 years.

The Coalition also focuses on policy initiatives and decision makers to reverse any negative effects, such as the addition of unnecessary levels of oversight and policies that do not generate benefit for the people we support, or divert resources away from direct supports and services.

COPA identifies additional issues that create obstacles and opportunities to improve life for people with disabilities and works collaboratively with families and other organizations to ensure that New York lives up to its mandated obligations to support people with developmental disabilities and to ensure that they are part of their communities, statewide.

Developmental Disabilities Alliance of WNY

Rhonda Frederick

President

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New York Association of Emerging & Multicultural Providers, Inc.

Yvette Watts

Executive Director

About COPA. . .

Alliance of Long Island Agencies, Inc.

Seth Stein, Esq.

Executive Director & General Counsel

InterAgency Council of Developmental Disabilities Agencies, Inc.

Tom McAlvanah

Executive Director