For several years, disability rights organizations throughout Arizona have spearheaded several successful federal, state and local public policy initiatives aimed at improving the lives of people who have disabilities. While the disability community has enjoyed many victories in the public policy arena, insufficient resources devoted specifically to improving public policy coordination among advocacy organizations and the community has often hampered efforts to create a more coordinated and far-reaching public policy presence in Arizona.

The lack of coordination in the public policy arena has resulted in the duplication of efforts, gaps in communication between advocacy organizations, and a lack of usable information on current issues at the community level, thus limiting the capacity of the disability community to act on policy issues.

Improved coordination in this arena would result in the increased empowerment of advocacy organizations and community members, while ultimately allowing the disability community to have a greater impact when federal, state and local policy change is needed to improve the lives of people who have disabilities and ensure protection of their rights.

To address this issue, several organizations serving people with a wide range of disabilities, including mental, physical, sensory, and cognitive disabilities, joined forced to establish Arizona Disability Advocacy Coalition (AZDAC) in February 2002.