The Arc of Colorado was incorporated in 1954 as an advocacy and support organization for families of children with developmental disabilities. In the early days, the association worked to change public perception of children with mental retardation and to educate parents and the community at large about mental retardation and other developmental disabilities.

The Arc helped families to obtain critical services for children and adults who were denied day care, education, employment and often, medical services.

Since its inception, The Arc has been instrumental in moving public policy forward to ensure that people with intellectual developmental disabilities are fully included in community life - throughout their lifetime.

As an affiliate of The ARC of the United States (as it was then known), the state group was originally known as the Colorado Association for Retarded Children. The name was later changed to the Colorado Association for Retarded Citizens.  Since 1996, we have been simply The Arc of Colorado.  Arc is not an acronym. 

The Arc of Colorado's Form 990