June 22, 2007
Moving Forward on the Momentum of the Family Voices 15th Anniversary Gala and National Conference 
In our last edition of Friday’s Child, we shared some of the highlights of the Family Voices 15th Anniversary Gala and National Conference “Moving Forward the Future of Health Care for Children and Youth: Families, Partners and Communities”. A show stopping, heartwarming Gala evening and information packed conference certainly left many of us feeling energized, excited, and perhaps even a little overwhelmed with the work still to be done. So, how do we keep the momentum going after we’ve returned home, and how do we continue to support each other as parent leaders while partnering with other professionals and organizations? Try a few of these tips:
Most of all, remember the words of Meg Wheatley,
“There is no greater power than a community discovering what it cares about. Ask ‘What’s possible?’ not ‘What’s wrong?’ Keep asking. Notice what you care about. Assume that many others share your dreams. Be brave enough to start a conversation that matters.”
Stay engaged. Choose to be a part of the conversation that means so much to children—our children-- and families.
Family Voices offers their gratitude and best wishes to Julie Sipchen, Project Director of KASA (Kids As Self Advocates), upon leaving Family Voices. Julie has worked for Family Voices for over 10 years in many different capacities and has been instrumental in the growth of the Family Voices organization and network. As Project Director of KASA, Julie has promoted youth leadership through many varied and successful efforts: networking and outreach to young adults across the country, guidance in the development of materials, participation in conferences and youth celebrations, assistance in expansion of the KASA website and listserv, and much more. Naomi Ortiz, who has worked with Julie for many years and is currently the KASA Project Coordinator, will assume the KASA Project Director responsibilities. We wish Julie and her family well and welcome Naomi to her new position.
New KASA report Standardized Testing: What Youth with Disabilities Have to Say
Use this report to educate policy makers, school boards, state officials, education and special education departments!
Order now from: www.fvkasa.org, where you can download an order form to mail in, or online from the Family Voices catalog.
Health Indicators by State
June 13, 2007- The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System released the
first-ever comprehensive comparison of health system performance in all 50 states.
Aiming Higher: Results
from a State Scorecard on Health System Performance ranks states on 32 performance indicators of access,
quality, avoidable hospital use and costs, equity, and "healthy lives."
The report compares each state's performance to benchmarks that have already been achieved in states across the country. Although some states ranked highly on multiple indicators, no single state or group of states scored top marks in every area. Some, however, far surpassed others: Hawaii and states in the Northeast and Upper Midwest often rank high in multiple areas, while states with the lowest rankings tend to be concentrated in the South. Across states, health care access and quality were found to be highly correlated.
"Where you live clearly matters: for access to care when you need it, the quality of care you receive, and opportunities to live healthier lives," says Fund senior vice president Cathy Schoen, one of the report's authors. The analysis also estimates how much the nation would save in human and economic costs if all states attained the level of performance reached by the top states.
The report is now available for free download on www.commonwealthfund.org, where you can also find an interactive U.S. map containing rankings and performance data for each state.
New Research Shows Simplifying Medicaid Can Reduce Children’s Hospitalizations
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities this month released a 2-page report by Leighton Ku—“New Research Shows Simplifying Medicaid Can Reduce Children’s Hospitalizations.” This summary of research conducted by Dr. Andrew Bindman and his associates at the University of California at San Francisco, “indicates that improving the continuity of Medicaid coverage through what is known as ‘12-month continuous eligibility’ can improve children’s health and avert unnecessary hospitalization costs.” To view the report, go to www.cbpp.org/6-11-07health.pdf.
REFERENCE POINTS: Research Project Evaluates 20 Years of What Works for Youth with Disabilities
The What Works Transition Research Synthesis Project funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) has published the first report in a series to be released. The project was established to review and synthesize the past two decades of research and advancements in the area of transition for youth with disabilities. By reviewing 50 previous studies, this first report examines how teaching life skills as an intervention affected the lives of
482 youth with varying levels of intellectual disabilities. To read the first report "A Systematic Review of the Effects of Curricular Interventions on the Acquisition of Functional Life Skills by Youth with Disabilities, What Works Transition Research Synthesis Project, 2006" go to the
National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center web site.
As they become available, additional reports will be posted on the site.
REFERENCE POINTS, transition updates from the TATRA Project, features resources and information to help parent organizations, advocates and professionals better serve adolescents and young adults with disabilities, and their families. Administered by the TATRA Project at PACER Center www.pacer.org, REFERENCE POINTS was launched with the initial support from the National Center on Secondary Education and Transition www.ncset.org. TATRA is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration.
The National Family Caregivers Association announces Revolution Health free online health fair now through June 30th. Click here to participate. Learn how your life as a family caregiver can be happier and healthier. For each daily visitor June 15-30, Revolution Health will make a donation to NFCA and other participating non profit organizations.
The National Technical Assistance Center for Children’s Mental Health is pleased to announce the availability of 14 new issue briefs that summarize the presentations and recommendations from the Special Forums held at the 2006 Georgetown University Training Institutes—Integrating Mental Health Services into Primary Care Settings. The documents in PDF format can be downloaded here.
The Special Forums focused on communities and populations with unique service needs, requiring specialized planning and service delivery approaches within systems of care. The goals of the Special Forums were to:
These issue briefs summarize the issues and recommendations from each Special Forum, including: Services in Rural and Frontier Communities; Services in Native American Communities; Services for Children with Co-Occurring Mental Health Disorders and Developmental Disabilities and their Families; Integrating Mental Health Services into Primary Care Settings; Financing Children’s Mental Health Services: Coping with a Changing Fiscal Environment; and much more.
The SCHIP reauthorization debate provides a timely and unprecedented opportunity to secure health insurance coverage for low income older adolescents who have been left out of expansions in children's health insurance coverage. Family Voices, along with many other parent and family led organizations, has signed a letter to be sent to the chairmen of the Senate Finance Committee encouraging them to require states to phase in Medicaid coverage for adolescents up to age 21 in families with incomes below 100% of poverty and to allow states the option of covering adolescents up to age 21 as targeted low-income children under SCHIP.
The National Immigration Law Center is also urging elected officials to support inclusion of the Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act (ICHIA, S.764, H.R. 1308) in the reauthorization package for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Much is happening around the reauthorization of SCHIP right now, so be sure to watch for frequent updates, and to visit the Legislative Action Center to contact your legislators to advocate for the reauthorization of SCHIP.
