Mission, Vision & Values

Mission

The Missouri Association of County Developmental Disabilities Services champions inclusive communities through the leadership, collaboration, and education of its member organizations.


Vision

All people lead full, meaningful lives as valued members of their communities.


Values

Mission, Vision, Values

Self-Determination – We believe it is the right of all people to make their own choices and experience acceptance in their communities. We help create opportunities and advocate for systems, processes and communities that support self- determination.

Transparency – Being informed of activities and actions that impact MACDDS’s ability to achieve its mission is key to ensuring trust, developing an understanding of the work, and nurturing ownership of the direction of the organization. Full transparency will be practiced at all levels of the association, offering opportunities for the membership to provide input and ask questions.

Trust – MACDDS is a safe environment for open discussion where everyone will be heard and treated with kindness and compassion. We presume positive intent in our interactions and strive to reach a shared understanding and consensus in decision making. Differences of opinion are expected and will be handled with care.

Inclusion – We believe everyone is part of the fabric of our community. Each of our communities have unique needs and perspectives that we bring with us and will influence our work and interactions with each other. We are autonomous in identifying and meeting local needs but participate in MACDDS as a collective, working towards the greater good. We welcome and value all people and perspectives, including those that are different from our own. We strive to find meaningful ways to include people with lived experience and self-advocates in our work.

Innovation – We are focused on continuous improvement and challenging the status quo on behalf of eliciting change. We are strategic, creative, proactive, and an influential voice on behalf of those we support.

Partnership – We cultivate collaboration and relationships because we are most effective when we work together to achieve a common goal, and we are dependent upon one another for our collective success.

Our mission, vision and values embody who our organization is and what we stand for. These foundational attributes are at the heart of MACDDS — defining our purpose, charting our direction for the future, and describing expectations for ethics and behavior.