Department of Mental Retardation

Mission Statement

• Respect the dignity of each individual through vigorous promotion of the human and civil rights which, in part, strives to keep people free from abuse or neglect;
• Promote the capacity of people with mental retardation to exercise choice and to make meaningful decisions in their lives;

• Empower individuals and their families to speak out for themselves and others, initiate ideas, have choices and make decisions about supports, consistent with available resources;

• Enhance public awareness of the valuable roles persons with mental retardation assume in society through promotion of physical and social integration;

• Recognize that realizing one's potential takes courage, skills, and supports;

• Support the dignity of achievement that results from risk-taking and making informed choices, while recognizing that the Department's role in supporting consumers to minimize risk to themselves and ensuring that their choices do not infringe upon the rights of others;

• Recognize that services providing meaningful benefits to individuals require a commitment to ongoing monitoring and evolutionary change;

• Provide access to services through a single, local, and familiar setting;

• Assure that ethnic and cultural diversity of each individual and staff are valued and respected in the design and delivery of services;

• Ensure that services and resources are flexible, cost effective, allocated according to standards of fairness and equity, and provided in the least intrusive manner possible;

• Operate according to sound fiscal and management practices which lead to the responsible use of public funds;

• Operate with an appreciation for the responsibilities that come with public service.