Our Mission

Welcome Statement

The agency provides a variety of services, including center-based day treatment and community-based waiver services. Our services support persons who have developmental disabilities and/or intellectual disability in remaining in
their homes and communities. Community-based services are provided on a one-to-one ratio, giving
the consumer the greatest opportunity to become truly involved in his or her community.

The service goals developed in light of this philosophy are:

Advocating for adequate funding, staffing, and services to address the needs of persons with developmental disabilities.
Encouraging an interdisciplinary service system to be utilized in the delivery of appropriate individualized and quality services.
Protecting the constitutional rights of individuals with disabilities and their rights to personal dignity, respect, and freedom from harm.
To help the individual with a developmental disability/delay become or remain self-sufficient by seeking to develop personal, social, academic, and problem solving skills necessary to function independently in society.
To protect children and adults who cannot protect themselves from abuse, neglect and exploitation and to help families stay together by providing an array of services for the individual with a developmental disability/delay.
To prevent and reduce inappropriate institutional care as much as possible by making home and community based services available.
To arrange for appropriate placement and services that provides the least restrictive environment, and is in the individual’s best interest.
Assuring that individuals with developmental disabilities who receive services from DDS are provided uninterrupted essential services until such time a person no longer needs to depend on these services.
Encouraging family, parent\guardian, individual, and public\community involvement in program development, delivery, and evaluation.
Engaging in statewide planning that ensures optimal and innovative growth of the Arkansas service system to meet the needs of persons with developmental disabilities and to assist such persons to achieve independence, productivity, and integration into the community.

The Board of Directors shall delegate to the Executive Director and the designated program managers the responsibility to prepare a Strategic Plan that will address the long range goals by evaluating community needs and target
populations. The Board of Directors will review the plan annually for progress.

A basic concept of Advantages is that all people, regardless of individual differences and intellectual abilities, have an inalienable right to an educational, habilitative and vocational program which is consistent with their needs and helps them to achieve their maximum potential. Advantages, therefore, seeks to provide the best possible educational, habilitative and vocational opportunity for the individual experiencing a developmental disability/delay in Arkansas so that it may fulfill its major responsibility, the fullest development of these human resources.

Underlying these concepts are the beliefs that: all human beings have intrinsic worth regardless of intellectual ability; that all human beings have some potential for development; and that, with few exceptions, every human being has both the ability and the duty to contribute something of value to his fellow person.

It is, therefore, the mission of Advantages is to provide a community based service system of individualized instruction and support geared toward independence, self-support, and normal living for persons residing in Drew County and southeastern Arkansas regardless of race, religion, gender, age, culture, sex or sexual orientation, socio-economic status, and marital status, ethnic or national membership.
The mission statement will be posted at all service locations and will be reviewed at hire and annually thereafter. The Board will review the mission statement annually and make changes, as needed.

Our Mission

Welcome Statement

Philosophy Statement