Open Doors for Multicultural Families (ODMF) has launched our 2025 legislative agenda, an ambitious and community-driven platform advocating for systemic changes to improve the lives of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families. Rooted in ODMF’s Home-Grown Legislative Priorities Project, this agenda reflects the unique needs and voices of the communities we serve.
The Home-Grown Legislative Priorities Project is a cornerstone of our advocacy work. Each year, ODMF conducts surveys with clients and staff to identify the most pressing issues impacting immigrant, refugee, and BIPOC communities with disabilities. This year’s survey resulted in 186 responses and the community identified special education, DDA services, and housing as their top issues. Our team worked to translate the survey into 9 different languages to make sure we were able to capture feedback from as many of our clients as possible. From these responses we were able to create the following legislative priorities for 2025.
Key 2025 Legislative Priorities
Eliminating the Special Education Enrollment Cap: ODMF is pushing for the removal of the 16.25% funding cap in K-12 education. Despite progress in raising the cap in 2024, 137 school districts still exceed it, leaving students with disabilities without fully funded educational support. ODMF is requesting full elimination of the cap, accountability for special education funding, and transparent program outcomes.
Funding Accessible Housing: ODMF is partnering with Mercy Housing, Sound Transit, and others to develop the Multicultural Village in Kent, WA. This inclusive community will feature 233 affordable units, with 47 specifically reserved for individuals with disabilities. To bring this vision to life, ODMF seeks $12.9 million in state capital funds for non-residential construction costs.
Supporting Family Caregivers: Parents of children with disabilities often sacrifice employment opportunities to provide care, particularly in diverse communities where culturally competent caregivers are scarce. ODMF advocates for caregiver compensation for parents of minor children, increased wages for caregivers, and targeted outreach to build a diverse caregiving workforce.
Abolishing Restraint and Isolation Practices: Restraint and isolation are harmful practices disproportionately affecting BIPOC and disabled students. ODMF calls for legislation to end these practices, improve data collection to prevent biased targeting, and provide professional development for educators managing students in crisis.
Improving Language Access in Education: Families who speak languages other than English face barriers in engaging with special education services. ODMF seeks amendments to Apple Health to cover interpretation services for IEP meetings, standardized translations of IEP and 504 documents in the top 20 languages, and improved training for interpreters in educational settings.
A Community-Driven Advocacy Model
We aim to impact systems and policy change that create inclusive spaces where the whole of a person’s intersectional identity can be seen and celebrated.
Our advocacy programs, work to address the fact that immigrant, refugee, and BIPOC communities with disabilities, and people who belong to more than one marginalized group face longstanding barriers to having their voices heard at decision-making tables. Through the Home-Grown Legislative Priorities Project, ODMF demonstrates the power of community-led advocacy. By engaging directly with our clients and staff, ODMF ensures that its priorities are rooted in lived experience and reflect the intersectional challenges faced by immigrant, refugee, and BIPOC families with IDD. This participatory model fosters trust, accountability, and a shared vision for equity and inclusion.
How You Can Support
ODMF invites the community to take action:
With this comprehensive legislative platform, ODMF continues to fight for a more just and inclusive future where every individual, regardless of ability or background, has the opportunity to thrive. Together, we can make systemic change a reality.
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Open Doors for Multicultural Families is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit in the United States, EIN #27-1206272.
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