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Our Values and Beliefs Guide TARC Programs and Services

TARC is committed to ensuring a high quality of life for Oklahomans with developmental disabilities and their families through education, empowerment, support and advocacy. The agency was founded in 1952 by the parents of children with disabilities who faced lives in which few options existed beyond institutional care. Those parents were passionate about creating programs and services so their children could live satisfying lives in their own communities. TARC remains as committed today to fostering the well-being, dignity, and rights of citizens with developmental disabilities and their families as did the pioneering parents of more than a half-century ago.

TARC believes all people:

• Should be valued and recognized
• Have basic rights, desires, and strengths
• Are entitled to choices that increase their independence and quality of life
• Have the right to make informed choices regarding where they live, where they work, how they participate in the community, and how they interact with others.

TARC programs include:

ARCCorps – recruits and trains volunteer guardians and advocates willing to assist people with developmental disabilities when they are making important decisions that affect their health, safety, and personal development.

ddadvocacy.net – is the TARC online presence and is a comprehensive source for Oklahomans seeking information or resources for themselves or others with a disability or wanting to connect with others in similar situations.

Family Support – delivers services in both English and Spanish including parent education and training, educational advocacy, assistance in using community resources, and fostering connectedness among families that have members with developmental disabilities.

Oklahoma Advocates Involved in Monitoring (OK-AIM) – trains more than 700 volunteers statewide to visit state-funded residences to monitor the quality of the everyday lives of people who have developmental disabilities.

Outreach/Service Management – expedites access to the full range of services needed by people with developmental disabilities and their families at critical times in their lives such as the birth of a child with a disability; the diagnosis of a disability in young child; the entry of a child with a disability into the public school system; tradition from the education to the adult service system; and the death of the person primarily responsible for caring for an individual with a disability.

Self-Advocacy – promotes the development of social and decision-making skills that enable people with developmental disabilities to live fulfilling, self-directed lives in the community; be contributing members of society; and have the support of a peer group.

TARC publications include: 

TARC Newsletter – a monthly newsletter that informs readers about national and state-level issues and legislative actions that affect adults and children with developmental disabilities, their families and the dedicated people who serve them.  Visit the "What's New at TARC" portion of our site to download the most current issue of the TARC Newsletter.

TARC in Action – a quarterly newsletter that informs individuals with disabilities, TARC volunteers, and TARC members and supporters about agency-related news and activities.  Visit the "What's New at TARC" portion of our site to download the most current issue of TARC in Action.

ARCCorps Newsletter – a quarterly newsletter that addresses the interests of and issues faced by ARCCorps volunteer guardians and advocates. Click here to download the most current issue of ARCCorps Newsletter.   

The OK-AIM News – a quarterly newsletter that addresses the interests of and issues faced by OK-AIM volunteer monitors. Click here to download the most current issue of The OK-AIM News.

TARC special events include:

Shot in the Dark Golf Tournament – TARC's major fundraiser is a 4-person golf scramble with tee off after dark! How can that be? With glow-in-the-dark golf balls and glowstick greens markers, of course. This year's tournament will be held at LaFortune Golf Course on Friday May 7th. Registration begins at 7:00 pm, Tee off at 9:00 pm. Contact Christina Merlo at 918-582-8272 for more information.

Advocacy Awards – For the past 17 years, TARC has honored individuals and organizations that have made exemplary efforts to advocate on behalf of Oklahomans with developmental disabilities and their families. The 19th Annual TARC Advocacy Awards will be held in December 7, 2009. Nominations are open to the public and are due to TARC by Friday October 9, 2009. Click here to download a nomination form.