Empowering Safety & Confidence: FDD’s Partnership with Kidpower

At the Foundation for Developmental Disabilities (FDD), we believe everyone deserves to feel safe, confident, and empowered daily. We are proud to partner with Kidpower, an organization that equips individuals with cognitive and developmental disabilities (IDDs) with essential social-emotional, advocacy, and personal safety skills.

Through specialized training programs, Kidpower helps individuals with disabilities navigate social situations, set personal boundaries, and advocate for themselves—all while fostering inclusive, supportive environments for families, educators, and caregivers.

Building a Safer, More Inclusive Community

For individuals with IDDs, learning personal safety, self-advocacy, and social-emotional skills is vital for building independence and confidence. Kidpower’s training programs teach practical strategies that help individuals:

✔️ Recognize and respond to unsafe situations

✔️ Communicate their needs and set healthy boundaries

✔️ Navigate relationships with confidence and self-respect

✔️ Identify trusted support systems

These life-changing skills equip participants with the tools they need to stay safe and thrive in various environments, including school, home, the workplace, and communities.

The Impact of FDD’s Support

Through our partnership, Kidpower is reaching more individuals and making a tangible difference in the lives of people with IDDs. Erika Leonard, Kidpower’s Community Education Director, shared the incredible impact of FDD’s support:

"Thanks to FDD's support of Kidpower San Diego, more than three hundred people in San Diego and Imperial Counties who have developmental disabilities learned and practiced ability-appropriate strategies for setting boundaries, advocating for themselves and others, and taking charge of their safety and well-being in 2024 alone! Also, two San Diego County residents with I/DD who experienced Kidpower thanks to FDD's support are helping others learn safe skills by acting as advisors on the statewide Workpower Advisory Council. Their leadership is having a lasting, positive impact on people with disabilities here in our community and around California! In 2025, many more people with I/DDs – as well as supportive staff, parents, and allies – will access Kidpower skills and resources thanks to FDD's support of Kidpower San Diego. Anyone interested can contact me directly at erika@kidpower.org!"

FDD’s Support: Expanding Life Skills Training for More Students

To help Kidpower expand its reach and impact, FDD has awarded a $5,000 grant to support its life skills training programs. This funding will:

🔹 Provide more students with personal safety and advocacy training

🔹 Ensure that individuals with IDDs can access critical life skills education

🔹 Help create systemic change by training families and professionals to foster safer, more inclusive environments

By investing in Kidpower’s mission, FDD is helping empower individuals with IDDs to navigate the world with confidence, resilience, and self-advocacy.

Together, We Are Strengthening the Future

Personal safety and self-advocacy are fundamental rights. Through this partnership with Kidpower, we are breaking down barriers, increasing access to life-changing skills, and fostering a more inclusive and supportive community.

To learn how you can use and teach Kidpower skills yourself and support their mission to help people of all ages, abilities, and life situations be safe, visit kidpower.org.

Together, we empower individuals to stand strong, speak up, and thrive.