Staff & Board Updates
Can You Teach? Family Faculty
Support Group Update
FITP Growth Chart
Family Voices in Vermont
Adventure Camp Article
Readers' Forum - Brian
Our Calendar | News & Note
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We welcome
spring as both a destination and a beginning. After the long, gray, snowy
days of winter, we can look back over the last six months and celebrate
our resiliency! Unfortunately, for many Vermont families, the isolation
and weariness we sometimes experience in the winter months does not go
away when the lilacs bloom. Winter gray is present in the realities of
respite, personal care and nursing shortages and being disconnected from
family and friends. But as the crocus peaks its head through the hardened
soil, the changing landscape reminds us that there is hope. Here are some
of the seeds we are planting:
©
Our Peer Support Network - Funded through the Vermont Health Foundation
we have hired a Network Coordinator to update our Supporting Parent family
information so that we can more accurately match families with similar
experiences in their communities. Our Network Coordinator will identify
gaps in our ability to match families, and will visit with state agencies,
community organizations and family support programs to gather regional
information on the availability of resources and supports for families.
©
Teaching Family-Centered Care - Parent to Parent has been working with
the College of Medicine to incorporate family-centered care into its four-year
curriculum and will be expanding its number of teaching families from 45
families to 75 over the next three years. (Please read page 4 to hear from
families participating in our Family Faculty Programs.) Parent to Parent
and the School of Nursing are also working together to design a course
that will offer undergraduates a practicum experience with a family that
will include respite.
©
Advocacy, Policy Analysis and Development - The shortage of nursing care
in Vermont has prompted Parent to Parent and families to explore a pilot
program enabling families to manage their own high-tech waiver. Parent
to Parent is committed to working in partnership with state agencies, advocacy
and family support organizations to review policies and encourage the implementation
of programs that MEET the needs of children and families.
©
Legislative Advocacy - In partnership with the Vermont Coalition for Disability
Rights Parent to Parent sponsored a bill this year to increase funding
for Children with Special Health Needs Respite Program. We have asked that
this program be funded at the same level as the Department of Developmental
Disabilities and Mental Health Respite Program - $1,122 per family. As
our newsletter goes to print, Senate Appropriations is making their decision.
As always, the work of Parent to Parent is defined by the needs and desires
of families. We invite all of you to talk with our Family Support Team
about your issues and challenges so that we can continue to bring your
concerns to the attention of legislators, policy makers, and program planners.
©
Happy
Spring,
Nancy
DiVenere
From Our
Director
Staff
& Board Updates
Can
You Teach? Family Faculty
Support
Group Update
FITP
Growth Chart
Family
Voices in Vermont
Adventure
Camp Article
Readers'
Forum - Brian
Our
Calendar | News
& Note
Top of page
