Webinars for Autism Awareness Month

April 2, 2013

 In celebration of Autism Awareness Month, HRSA/MCHB will be hosting the webinars (April 4th, 8th, and 24th). The webinars feature the work of MCH CAAI State, Training and Research Grantees.  

Mark your calendars for the events! You can register for the webinars using the links below.

  • Webinar: Autism Spectrum Disorders: Family Support and Involvement
    When: Thurs, April 4, 12:30-1:30 EDT
    Register
  • Webinar: Expediting Detection of Autism Risk and Intervention Access
    When: Mon, April 8, 1-2 pm EDT
    Register
  • Webinar: Screening, Early Diagnosis, and Early Intervention
    When: Wed, April 24, 2-3 pm EDT
    Register

11th Annual Health Summit is another Success!

March 15, 2013

On February 25-26, 2013, Family Voices of California held its eighth statewide Health Summit, bringing together families, advocates, state agency representatives, health policy advocates, legislative representatives, providers and insurers.  The Summit focused on identifying budget issues in California significantly affecting children with special health care needs and developing strategies to ensure that families in California are able to access family-centered, affordable care. 

Download the Health Summit Highlights Report for more information, and go to our Facebook page for photos of the event.Thank you for another successful Summit!

November 2012 Webinar Recording: Changes to MediCal and Healthy Families

November 12, 2012

NEW ARCHIVED WEBINAR: What You Need to Know about Changes to MediCal and Healthy Families for Children with Special Health Care Needs

Date: Wednesday, November 7, 2012

This webinar presented the important changes in access to health and mental health services that will affect children with special health care needs who have health insurance through MediCal and Healthy Families programs. These are issues that families need to know, since they may impact your child’s services.

Presented by Dr. Renee Wachtel, Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrician . Dr. Wachtel has been caring for children with developmental disabilities and behavioral issues for many years, and serves as chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics (Chapter 1) Committee on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics and chair of the Bay Area Autism Consortium.

Go to our archives page to download a video of the presentation.

 

October 2012 Webinar Recording

October 25, 2012

Educationally Related Occupational & Physical Therapy Services (October 3, 2012)

Learn how educationally related therapy is different from medically related therapy, and how to ask for these therapies from the school district if you feel a child needs them. Learn when an evaluation by a school therapist is warranted and what kinds of skills and activities a school based therapist may be able to provide. Carol Cohen, Family Health Liaison, Family Resource Network (FRN Alameda County) and Pat Louie from Alameda County California Children's Services (CCS) will discuss these topics as well as how CCS provides medically necessary therapy and how this therapy should be documented in a child’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP).

To view slides of the presentation [ppt], click here

To download the webinar [wmv], click here

 

CCS Medical Therapy Program Means Test - The Pros and Cons (May 2, 2012)

To download the webinar [wmv], click here

 

 

As National Work & Family Month Begins, National Family Voices Celebrates the Work of Special Parent Heroes

October 3, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 
October is National Work and Family Month. Family Voices celebrates National Work and Family Month by honoring the many parents who care for a child or children with special health care needs and/or disabilities, and still manage to balance the exceptional demands of their home life with work outside the home supporting other families who have similar challenges.

All of the news in the United States lately seems to be about what will happen during the fewer than 35 days which remain of the U.S. presidential race. Most of those days will get checked off the calendar during the month of October. Perhaps appropriately, since both presidential candidates seem quite dedicated to the importance of family in their personal lives - with Mitt Romney the father of five boys and Barack Obama the father of two girls - October is National Work and Family Month.

This designation was created to communicate and celebrate the progress towards supporting healthier and more flexible work environments and to encourage employers to implement work-life effectiveness programs. It was identified by a resolution of the U.S. Senate in 2003 and in 2010 President Obama issued a presidential statement about National Work and Family Month which included these observations:

"Millions of Americans continue to struggle day-in and day-out to balance work and family life - to juggle their job responsibilities with caring for a child, an elderly relative, or a loved one with a disability."


For Family Voices, an organization dedicated to supporting families of children and youth with special health care needs and/or disabilities, these comments were noteworthy because of the attention they placed on the challenges of providing care for a loved one with a disability.

As the fever pitch of the current election race intensifies over the next few weeks, it will be interesting to see whether the questions flagged in the 2010 presidential statement can somehow elbow their way onto the presidential debating platform. Is the balance between work and family, something which is central to the lives of many if not most Americans, an important enough topic for discussion by the presidential candidates in the face of other pressing issues?

Two parent heroes, who take care of children with special health care needs in the home, while helping other parents with similar challenges, are Andrea Leon and Deepa Srinivasavaradan. Each mother works with the Family-to-Family Health Information Center (F2F HIC) in her respective state, Andrea in New Mexico and Deepa in New Jersey.