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The Parent Network
March 2019
Mission: Idaho Parents Unlimited supports, empowers, educates and advocates to enhance the quality of life for Idahoans with disabilities and their families.
Logos for Family Voices,Ideas that work, and F2F
Parent Training and Information Center - IDEA Part D

What is an FBA and Behavior Intervention Plan?
 
A Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) is an individualized problem-solving process for addressing student problem behavior. It can uncover why a student is having behavioral issues in school by identifying social, emotional, and environmental causes. Additionally, challenging behaviors can sometimes produce sensory issues for the student as well. When thinking about how to address these issues, the IEP team can write a behavior intervention plan (BIP) which outlines how to address these issues.
 
The results of a Functional Behavioral Assessment is the Behavioral Intervention Plan (BIP). And the purpose of the BIP is to teach and reward positive behaviors. This plan helps the IEP team identify strategies to help reduce or prevent the likelihood of challenging behaviors from occurring.
 
Each Behavior Intervention Plan is specific to the unique needs and learning style of the student and so each BIP can look very different from another. So it is important to think about specific accommodations that may be effective in facilitating access to education. Bring all your ideas to the IEP Team meeting so that all options can be explored.
 
Terms:
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS)
Functional Behavior Assessments (FBA)
Behavior Intervention Plans (BIP)
 
 
As a parent-led organization, IPUL parent education coordinators are familiar with the challenges that can come with children who are exhibiting behaviors both at home and in school. If you need more information or wish to talk with someone about how to put these tools into action to meet your family's unique needs, give IPUL a call. We are happy to help.

Family to Family Health Information Center - Idaho Family Voices
As a resource for families that fall under the federal guidelines of poverty; Medicaid is a great program for a child to access general health care. For children with disabilities it’s equally substantial in that it can help families access services for their child that has a developmental disability. However, many families that have children with a developmental disability can access the services that can be provided through Medicaid because the family exceeds the income requirements to qualify. This is where the Katie Beckett option is helpful. Katie Beckett is not a different program, it is a pathway to Medicaid and allows families to qualify despite being over income because their child has a developmental disability.

For more information on the Katie Beckett option, visit the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare:


Youth Corner

In November, the Idaho Transition Team hosted an institute for Idaho school districts to collaborate with district transition teams in an effort to create more effective and successful transition programs for their students who are accessing special education services. 

There were more than 300 participants from around the state who participated. As a result, some of those participating school districts have hosted transition fairs. These transition fairs included local agencies, programs and services, employers and more, that are dedicated to helping youth find services and acquire community connection.

VSA Idaho - The State Organization on Art and Disability

This past fall teaching artist Judy Sobeloff worked with fourth graders at Notus Elementary on a project entitled “Learning to Live by Our Family Mottos: Writing the Two-Character One-Act Play.” The standards-based playwriting project was a part of the fourth-grade semester-long “Confluence of Cultures” expedition. Students learned about westward exploration, and the various indigenous tribes of Idaho. Students explored the meaning of word “culture,” and how stories reveal culture both in written and oral storytelling. Students learned that by sharing stories we can promote understanding and compassion for own history and that of others.
 
Students interviewed family members to discuss their own family stories and values, and to create a family motto. This engagement with stories informed students writing their own stories. The plays were based on the students’ family mottos, with characters struggling to achieve their greatest wish and learning a lesson that results in their family motto.

The students will also build a David Thompson cedar plank canoe as a symbol of the confluence of cultures throughout the Pacific Northwest region and beyond. 

VSA Idaho, The State Organization on Arts and Disability, provides arts and education opportunities for people with disabilities and increases access to the arts for all. VSA's mission is empowering and engaging people with disabilities in the creative process through opportunities which are fully inclusive, educational, and participatory.

VSA Idaho is member of the VSA Affiliate Network, a program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. VSA is an international organization founded by Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith in 1974. 
To learn more about IPUL's arts programs please contact Heather@ipulidaho.org. 

For more about VSA International please visit VSA, The National Organization on Arts and Disability:
newsletter arts bar updated 2019
Idaho Parents Unlimited Save the Date
   

Monthly Live Broadcast Workshop and Webinar Series 
2019

March 2019 workshop
Broadcast Live in the Boise office
Broadcast and interactive statewide via webinar platform.

Getting and Keeping the First Job
March 13, 2019
5:30-7:00 pm MST*

Youth and parents will learn about the importance of employment for all and its particular impact on people with disabilities and the important skills that help youth with disabilities keep the jobs they get. 



Registration :
Call - 208-342-5884

IPUL Staff
Angela Lindig , Executive Director
Amy Ireland , Parent Education Coordinator
Sarah Tueller , Parent Education Coordinator
Joe Gonzales , Parent Education Coordinator
Casey Gordon , Parent Education Coordinator
Heather Kirk Skinner , Statewide Arts Education Coordinator
Rosario Beagarie , Bilingual Parent Education Coordinator
Candace Garman , Bookkeeper
Bill Nuttycombe , IT Specialist
 
IPUL Board of Directors:

North :
Lisa Richards Evans

South Central :
Becky Novak
 
Southwest :
Dallas Gudgell
Roy Elizondo
Mary Gouthier
 
East :
Jared White
Alycia Birch 

 
                                         
                                        
 
 
The contents of this electronic newsletter were developed under a Cooperative Agreement from the US Department of Education, Office of Special Education (OSEP) Grant #H328M140020 and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) Family to Family Health Information Center Grant # H84MC12896. However, the contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the either department, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.     
 
 
 
IPUL's parent education programming is always free to families. Consider making a tax-deductible contribution to assist us in assisting families who are raising exceptional children in Idaho. If making a cash contribution is out of reach right now, you can still help by making Idaho Parents Unlimited your charity of choice when shopping at Amazon.com or Fred Meyer thanks to their fantastic giving programs:


Idaho Parents Unlimited, Inc.
4619 Emerald St. Ste. E
Boise, ID 83706
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