IPUL's E-News for March 6, 2020

Here are the highlights of our recent activity online. Not all everything is included due to timeliness. If an advertised event already took place, we've left it off.

We Want Your News and Events! If you have news, information or upcoming events in your town that are relevant to families who have children with disabilities or special health care needs and would like us to share that information, please email the details to parents@ipulidaho.org for review. We also want to help you publicize your support group ! Click that link to learn more and to submit your group to IPUL Our program coordinator will then share this via IPUL's social media networks. We are also happy to add events to our calendar for people to find.

IPUL and COVID-19

Like most, we're monitoring the COVID-19 Coronavirus situation closely here at IPUL. We just returned from travel to the amazing Tools for Life Secondary Transition Fair as well as training and meet-ups in Pocatello, and we are hopeful that everyone who attended remains healthy. While there are no confirmed cases in Idaho, it's seems highly unlikely that will remain the case. Furthermore, most of us at IPUL are parents of children with complex health care needs and/or dealing with compromised immune systems ourselves. Therefore, we have made the decision to postpone our scheduled travel to the northern region of the state the first week in April, and we will be mostly working from our own homes over the next two weeks. We are still monitoring the situation for those of you who are scheduled to attend our Parent Leadership Development toward the end of April. We'll do our best to keep everyone up to date. We have access to wonderful technology, and our monthly workshop will proceed as planned. If you need assistance, please note that we will respond best to requests through our website form:  https://ipulidaho.org/connect-with-us or via email at  parents@ipulidaho.org.  Thanks for your understanding and patience.

Idaho Information about Covid-19

This is a link to a page hosted on the Central District Health site that is full of updated information about the current outbreak of Covid-19 Coronavirus. This page has a guidance document from the CDC for Idaho Schools as well as a monitoring link for cases in Idaho. See the page here: https://www.cdhd.idaho.gov/dac-coronavirus.php

UPDATE : We shared this new document this week - from the United States Department of Education - "Questions and Answers on Providing Services to Children with Disabilities During a COVID-19 Outbreak" https://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/memosdcltrs/qa-covid-19-03-12-2020.pdf

IPUL on the Road - Tools for Life

Angela, Joe, and Sarah were in East Idaho at the Tools for Life Secondary Transition Fair in Pocatello this last week, where we also had some meetups with parents. "Sharing information with youth who have disabilities is awesome, but what we learn from them is even better!

Empowered to Connect Conference 2020

From: The Family Training and Resource Center and Health and Welfare: Show Hope and the Karyn Purvis Institute on Child Development offer an annual training on TBRI (Trust Based Relational Intervention) for working with children that have been exposed to Foster Care, Adoption, and Trauma. This year we have 11 sites statewide with different locations, times, and dates. This training is being offered by the Family Training and Resource Center and Health and Welfare free to the community. Registration is required and the link is (below.) There will be professional social worker CEU's offered by Show Hope for a very reasonable fee ($45). That link will be included in your registration confirmation email and must be paid to Show Hope before the training. Chubbuck - March 27th & 28th Emmett - May 8th & 9th Garden City - April 18th & 25th Greenleaf - April 24th & 25th Hayden - April 3rd & 4th Idaho Falls - April 24th & 25th Kellogg - March 27th &28th *April 15th, 22nd, 29th, May 6th McCall - April 17th & 18th Moscow - April 24th & 25th Mountain Home - March 21st & 28th Twin Falls - *April 2nd, 9th, 16th & 24th * Shown as a four-part series, must attend all four dates. familyrtc.org/conferences2020-etc-conferences

Blue Cross of Idaho THRIVE Center open at South Meridian YMCA

The Blue Cross of Idaho THRIVE Center at the South Meridian YMCA is Now Open The new 4,000 square foot Blue Cross of Idaho THRIVE Center (Together Helping Realize Inclusive Victories Everyday) is a safe play space designed specifically for families and individuals affected by autism and other cognitive and physical differences. The THRIVE Center is the only facility of its kind in the Treasure Valley accessible to all regardless of their ability to pay for membership. With all YMCA programs, financial assistance is available to those who qualify. The THRIVE Center is an environment for kids, their families, and caregivers to feel safe and welcome, build confidence, be active, have fun, feel successful, and more importantly to belong. YMCA South Meridian   | Blue Cross of Idaho

Strictly Wheels - Inspiring Disabled People to Dance

We shared this story from Disabilityhorizons.com about Great Britain's Strictly Wheels para dance team competing in the para dance championships. Read the article here

Parent Leadership Development 2020 Bear Lake

We are still looking for parents for our 2020 Parent Leadership Development Program in Bear Lake, Idaho Help us spread the word! We are looking for families primarily in East Idaho or the surrounding areas (Malad, Salmon, Challis, Ketchum) Reminders: 💚  No charge to parents to attend (upon application review, brief interview, and selection) 💙  Gain valuable skills to becoming an effective advocate and community leader 💚 Join other parents who want to share their stories, make life better for their children and families of children with disabilities and special health care needs living in Idaho 💙  Enjoy a little downtime while learning and growing personally and professionally

Idaho Parents Unlimited are happy to announce that we have opened applications for our Parent Leadership Development for 2020.   See our page about Parent Leadership Development on IPUL's Website  This is an intensive five-day training for Idaho parents of children with disabilities in which parents and IPUL staff stay together in a retreat-type setting, taking place April 20-24, 2020. This training takes place in a different region of the state each year to develop strong community leaders. This year we are holding it in Bear Lake.  It is important to note that this is an application - not a registration - and Parent Leadership Development is for a maximum of 12 parents.  If you are interested in applying please complete the form linked below and Idaho Parents Unlimited will contact you for an interview.  Apply here: https://ipulidaho.org/pld2020app

Statewide Training for April- Planning For a Healthy Transition to Adulthood

Adulting is Hard... But Planning Ahead Can Make It Easier! This training prepares youth for transitioning to adulthood with a goal of independent health care management. Topics include managing appointments, medication, oral health, mental health, and more. Wednesday, April 15, 2020 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. & 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. And Recorded for Future Viewing Broadcast live from the Boise office and interactive via webinar from anywhere with an internet connection Idaho Parents Unlimited 4619 Emerald St., Ste. E Boise, ID 83706 REGISTER: https://ipulidaho.org/statewide-rsvp Phone: (208) 342-5884 Email: parents@ipulidaho.org