Participating in Partners in Policymaking is a lot of fun, and participants often make life-long friends through the program. It is also a lot of hard work.
Partners are asked to make the following commitments:
1. Attend ALL two-day sessions in Salem from 1pm Friday to 4pm Saturday
2. Make arrangements with employers and others, as necessary, to be available for ALL sessions
3. Maintain an active email account, and check it at least once per week (assistance is available for individuals who do not currently have an email account)
4. Complete all homework assignments, including community networking, advocacy activities, interviews, reading, and other projects
In recent years, participants spent an average of 15 hours on activities outside of the 2-day training sessions each month, but each person is unique in his/her needs and the amount of time available to complete assignments. Some participants spent as little as 2 hours during some months, some spent over 60 in a given month... frequently the work intersects with participants' daily lives (IEP or ISP meetings, volunteer work, committee meetings, etc.) in ways that make it easy to complete the assignments.
Partners respects individual differences, and participants have the opportunity to pursue the topics and issues that interest them the most.
Our hope is that Oregon Partners Graduates will go on to become active disability advocates at the local, state and national levels.