Resource eBlast November 2017
Sharing Resources for Families of Children with Special Healthcare Needs


The Family Voices Immigration Toolkit * is a collection of documents designed to inform, empower, and assist families of children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) and the professionals who support them to prepare for the possibility of an emergent immigration situation and/or to collect supporting documentation that accurately reflects the extent of hardship on the health and well-being of a child with SHCN if s/he or the caregiver is detained or removed. This toolkit differs from others in that it uniquely addresses and supports the needs of CYSHCN in terms of the documentation, including specific templates for doctor letters and a documentation organization checklist. (*This toolkit is not intended to be legal advice.)
Supported Decision-Making Teams: Setting the Wheels in Motion  
For thousands of years - going back to Ancient Rome - society treated people with intellectual disabilities as if they were unable to take care of or make decisions for themselves. Today, it is still expected that someone else - usually called a guardian, but in California, a conservator - will be appointed to make decisions for them. In fact, that is often the advice parents get when their children with disabilities turn 18: become their guardian/conservator as soon as possible. It doesn't have to be that way. This paper is about your options and actions you can take to help your children make their own decisions and direct their own lives to the maximum of their abilities. 

With our National Young Adult Transition Advisory Group, Got Transition has created a Youth Health Care Transition Quiz for youth and young adults to find out how ready they are to transition to adult care. The quiz asks about major issues important during transition years. It also gives tips and resources to address many health care transition questions, including how to add their medical information to their smartphone, what legal changes happen at 18, and how to sign up for health insurance.

November is National Caregiver Month
Take the time to check into resources and supports. Take the time to care for yourself too!   https://www.caregiver.org 


Diabetes is a disease that affects the whole family. 1 in 3 people born after 2000 are at risk for developing Type 2 diabetes. Take the time to read and share stories, search for healthy recipes the whole family can cook and eat or search for the right toolkit to help you start conversations or advocate in your community.
 


Milestones Matter!  
Free App!! Track your child's milestones from age 2 months to 5 years with CDC's FREE  Milestone Tracker Mobile App . Interactive checklists with photos and videos make tracking milestones easy and fun. Download the app now and share your child's summary with your pediatrician, get tips for encouraging your child's development, and find out what to do if you ever become concerned about how your child is developing.
 
The App is part of the CDC's  Learn the Signs. Act Early. (LTSAE) program. 


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About Family Voices

Family Voices is a national organization and grassroots network of families and friends of children and youth with special health care needs and disabilities.  We promote partnership with families--including those of cultural, linguistic and geographic diversity--in order to improve healthcare services and policies for children.