Parent to Parent of Virginia serves as co-director of Virginia's Family to Family Health Care Information and Education Center. Through funding from the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicaid/Medicare Services, Parent to Parent of Virginia and Family Voices of Virginia are working together to establish the Virginia Integrated Network of Family Organizations Center. The Center will help families of children with special health care needs: obtain information and referrals; develop effective partnerships with health care providers; strengthen parenting and advocacy skills; receive training on health care insurance coverage, Home and Community-Based Services Waivers, and other health care topics; and receive family to family peer support. For more information, click here or visit www.va-info.org.

Since 2003, Parent to Parent of Virginia has received funding to collaborate with 3 of Virginia's 6 Care Connection for Children programs that are funded by the Virginia Department of Health. Care Connection for Children programs assist families of children with special health care needs in accessing specialty medical care; assisting with coordinating care and services; assisting with obtaining health insurance for the child; and by providing information and referral to community resources.

Nine parents have provided: outreach on Parent to Parent of Virginia and Care Connection for Children services; one-to-one emotional and informational support to parents of children with special health care needs; IEP advocacy; and training focused on enhancing parents' skills in becoming more active in the financing and coordination of their child's health care. To date, over 600 parents and providers have been trained on the Care Coordination Notebook: Financing your Child's Health Care. For more information, click here.

Products:

• Care Coordination Notebook: Financing your Child's Health Care (2005)

Download (requires Adobe Acrobat)

In 2002, Parent to Parent of Virginia received funding from the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities to pilot a program based on the Community Friends Project implemented by the Native American Families Together Parent Center. The intent of Virginia's Community Friends Program was to ensure that children with disabilities and their families receive culturally responsive and community-based family support and information services. The project promoted partnerships between parents of children with disabilities and the professionals who serve them through training, information and networking.

Community Friends are parents of children with disabilities and chronic illness that live in the same community, shop in the same stores, and their children go to the same schools. They receive advocacy training to support other families in their community by:

• Conducting sharing sessions with families of children with disabilities and/or special health care needs about their concerns and needs
  
• Providing individual support to families on the educational rights of their children with disabilities and/or special health care needs
  
• Giving information on community resources

For more information, click here

Products:

• Community Friends Training Manual (2003) TO ORDER
  

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