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Upcoming TOPICAL CALLS from the National Center for Family / Professional Partnerships

Topical calls are a great way to gain knowledge directly from the experts! The calls are free and provide opportunities for information sharing, discussion, questions and answers. Here's what's coming soon:

The National Center for Family / Professional Partnerships (NCFPP) at Family Voices is pleased to be hosting a series of three topical calls - Risky Business: Introduction to Organization Risk Management and Sustainability — with veteran parent leader and advocate Conni Wells.

• The first call in the series, held on April 12, introduced the topic of Risk Management and how one can grow and sustain an organization by using risk management to guide planning. A transcript is available from this call.
• The second call, on Thursday, April 19, 2007, from 1-2:30 PM ET, will explore Symptoms and Prognosis of Risk.
• The third call on Thursday, May 3, 2007, from 1-2:30 PM ET, will examine the Treatment and Prevention of Organizational Risk.

The NCFPP continues to host a series of calls on Facilitative Leadership with Steve Davis of FacilitatorU.com. Participants on past calls have been introduced to communication and coaching skills. Calls in this series are scheduled for Wednesday, April 25, 2007 from 3-4:30 PM ET; Wednesday, June 20, 2007 from 3-4:30 PM ET; and Wednesday, July 25, 2007, from 3-4:30 PM ET.

A topical call on Oral Health for CYSHCN has been scheduled for Thursday, June 7, 2007 at 3:00 PM ET. More information to follow.

To register for any of the above calls or to obtain transcripts, please contact Leau Phillips at leau@familyvoices.org or (888) 835-5669 .

Upcoming TOPICAL CALLS hosted by Family Voices' Partners

Several of our national partners host topical calls that are sure to be of interest to you.

The Catalyst Center, a national center dedicated to improving health care insurance and financing for children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN), hosts a series of calls on Coverage and Financing of Care for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs. The next call on Financing Care Coordination for CYSHCN is scheduled for Tuesday, May 8, 2007 from 3:00-4:00 PM ET. Visit the Catalyst Center website for more information.

 

The Healthy and Ready to Work Resource Center hosts a series of topical calls on transition issues, including one today, Friday, April 13th on Block Grant and Health Indicator #8: Tips for Reporting Transition Progress, from 3-4 PM ET. Target audience includes State Title V CSHCN Programs, Transition Coordinators, Family and Youth Leadership organizations. Visit the HRTW website for more information.

Network News

We are pleased to announce that Stacy Justiss has joined Maureen Mitchell as a Family Voices Network member in Virginia. Stacy, mother of three, is not new to Family Voices. Prior to her family recently moving to Damascus, Virginia, Stacy worked for the Florida Institute for Family Involvement (FIFI), home to Family Voices FL. Stacy is learning more about systems in VA and has begun to network with other family organizations in VA. Join us in welcoming Stacy!

 

News You Can Use:
Resources and More

New CMS Transition Materials Available from Florida Title V
Florida Title V CSHCN Program/Childrens Medical Services (CMS) has developed three new transition tools that they hope will be useful to you and CMS enrollees and their families, as health care transition becomes an important focus in their lives. The first tool, Care Coordination Transition Planning Tips For Annual Re-Determination and Transition Planning, was designed to give you some ideas for transition topics that can be discussed with enrollees and their families. The second tool, the Parent Transition Checklist, is a shortened version of the CMS Transition Workbooks, parent sections, and can be completed by a care coordinator with a parent, or a parent alone, more easily. The final tool, the Youth/Young Adult Transition Checklist, is a shortened version of the CMS Transition Workbooks, youth/young adult sections, and can be completed by a care coordinator with a CMS enrollee, or by the enrollee alone, more easily. For more information or to request copies of these documents, please contact Susan J. Redmon, Florida Dept. of Health, Children’s Medical Services.

Hold Your Breath—A Journey into Cross Cultural Medicine
A new documentary, "Hold Your Breath," supported in part by The Commonwealth Fund, will air on select public television stations this month. Directed by award-winning filmmaker and physician Maren Grainger-Monsen, the film reveals the clash between ancient Islamic traditions and contemporary Western medicine. It follows a deeply religious Muslim immigrant from Afghanistan with cancer and his Western medical doctor as they try to find a common language while there is still time to provide potentially life-saving treatment. Khalid Hosseini, author of the New York Times bestseller, The Kite Runner, writes, “This film is a lovely and moving meditation on the clash between religion, culture, and modern medicine.” For more information and for broadcast times, visit the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics Web site.

"When and Apple a Day Isn’t Enough – Students Speak Out about Health Care"
The Campaign for Children’s Healthcare, a diverse group of organizations representing parents, advocates, professionals, health care providers and others committed to our nation’s children, is happy to announce the release of When and Apple a Day Isn’t Enough – Students Speak Out about Health Care, featuring the winners of the Campaign's national essay contest held in the fall of 2006. This book, published by Families USA for the Campaign, highlights youths’ perspectives on health insurance-what happens when you do not have insurance and why expanded coverage is important to all children. The voices of children are shared in a way that is both genuine and moving. Click here to read more about this book.

Improving the Quality of Youth Programs

The Forum for Youth Investment has released two new reports for assessing and improving program quality. “Measuring Youth Program Quality: A Guide to Assessment Tools” discusses and compares nine tools for assessing the quality of youth programs. “Building Quality Improvement Systems: Lessons from Three Emerging Efforts in the Youth-Serving Sector” provides a preliminary framework for thinking about key questions when planning any kind of program quality improvement work in the youth-serving sector. To learn more, visit the forum's website.

National Public Health Week

The American Public Health Association recently hosted a national campaign, National Public Health Week, April 2-8, 2007, that focuses on preparedness and public health threats, specifically addressing the unique needs of vulnerable populations - "Take The First Step!" As part of this campaign, APHA has developed specific emergency planning fact sheets for schools, mothers with children, individuals with chronic health needs, and others. These fact sheets and other helpful resources and tools are available on line www.nphw.org/2007. How can you use this information? You may share it on area or state listservs for families. You may share this information in meetings or conference calls. You may think about this information with family, friends and neighbors in your home communities. You can also learn more about emergency preparedness by participating in events and activities sponsored by cities and towns in your area. Family Voices is pleased to be a national partner in "Take the First Step!" campaign.

The Family Voices Store at Family Café—One Stop Shopping for Family and Friends

Looking for a way to honor a family member or special caregiver, or seeking just the right thank you gift? Consider making contributions to Family Voices through secure, on line donations, purchases of Family Voices Merchandise or purchases from Amazon.com through the link on our web home page. Simply visit our website, www.familyvoices.org, to make a donation or to learn more about how financial gifts are used. Donations may be sent directly to: Family Voices, 2340 Alamo SE, Suite 102, Albuquerque, NM 87106.

The Family Voices Store at Cafe Press— www.cafepress.com/shopfv has lots of fun FV t-shirts, mugs and more.

When buying books from Amazon.com, don’t forget to link to Amazon through the Family Voices website home page at www.familyvoices.org. A portion of the sales is given back to Family Voices.

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