Here are the highlights of our upcoming events and recent activity online. Not everything is included due to timeliness.

If an advertised event already took place, we've left it off.

What an amazing time we had at Work of Art in CDA! Thanks go out to our client Innovation Collective, we appreciate you so much!

Thank you to our partners at HREI, Vocational Rehabilitation and The Arts and Cultural Alliance. A special shoutout to Virginia Shawver for making all the magic happen, and to our students for creating this wonderful art.

Heather Kirk at far left, then the Staff: Virginia Shawver, Valerie Andrus, Lucia Kuyper, and Teri Hansen. The client, Innovation Collective presented a plaque.

Read about a new animated PBS KIDS television show featuring a neurodivergent main character and friends. “Carl the Collector,” set to debut in fall 2024 and the first PBS Kids show of its kind, follows Carl, a warm-hearted autistic raccoon who enjoys collecting things.

https://on.asha.org/41f4yXB

Attention Idaho parents of youth with special health care needs 14-16 years of age.

Your Future Self Will Appreciate This!

We are working on a pilot project to create a smoother process for youth who will need to transition

their health care to adult service providers in the next few years.

What Can I Expect?

• FREE resources and tools for your teen and their primary care provider
• calls and coaching with IPUL and our Maternal Child Health partners to receive individualized support through this short term process (pilot is complete this spring)
• $100 stipend for participation

Sounds Simple! How can I sign up?

It is simple! Contact Stephanie Walters, CYSHCN Director and Maternal & Child Health Clinical Coordinator, IDHW at stephanie.walters1@dhw.idaho.gov

or for additional questions about this project, contact IPUL at parents@ipulidaho.org or 208-342-5884

This project is supported by Idaho Parents Unlimited, Inc. (IPUL), Got Transition®, and Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Maternal Child Health.

Save the Date!

Fred Riggers Disability Awareness Day

Thursday, February 1, 2024

10:00 AM - 2:00 PM

First Floor Rotunda

Noon (12:00 PM MST) - Awards Ceremony



https://mailchi.mp/8c776cfd0b08/2024frdad

"The knowledge that you can gain by getting to know your government, it's fantastic and the influence you can have when you start gaining the knowledge is unbelievable. It levels the playing field." - Fred Riggers

Idaho Parents Unlimited

Engage + Educate + Bridge + Lead

• Did you know that since the unwinding of the public health emergency states have unenrolled nearly 11.8 million people?
• Enrollment for children has fallen by 2.8 million
• Five states are seeing declines in CHIP enrollment, Idaho is one of them.

Did your child lose Medicaid in the public health emergency unwinding? Do you know about the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)?

Please reach out to Idaho Parents Unlimited with any questions regarding: Medicaid, CHIP, Katie Beckett, Children's Developmental Disabilities Program, Youth Empowerment Services (YES), Children's Special Health Care Programs, Early Periodic Screening Diagnostic Treatment (EPSDT), and School-Based Medicaid.

Statistics pulled from the article attached here --->

https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/states-can-reduce-coverage-loss-among-children-during-medicaid-unwinding

ipulidaho.org

parents@ipulidaho.org

208.342.5884

We shared this from the Idaho Department of Education:

Please share your feedback on this 10-minute survey to help shape the next Idaho Reading Indicator (IRI)

https://ow.ly/Lf4r50QgVEN

If you are reading this post we want YOUR feedback!

Please complete this survey to understand how the existing Idaho Reading Indicator meets your needs, and how it should be improved.

Complete the survey BEFORE Friday, Dec 22

Your copy should address 3 key questions: Who am I writing for? (Audience) Why should they care? (Benefit) What do I want them to do here? (Call-to-Action)

Create a great offer by adding words like "free" "personalized" "complimentary" or "customized." A sense of urgency often helps readers take an action, so think about inserting phrases like "for a limited time only" or "only 7 remaining"!

Idaho Parents Unlimited

Engage + Educate + Bridge + Lead

We want to hear from YOU!

We are looking to go a new direction for IPUL's Parent Leadership Development Institute. 2024 will be virtual!

We will be determining our location and dates based on interest. Applicants will be selected through an application and interview process with IPUL staff. Applicants must have tangible leadership goals to be considered.

Please note that this is not a registration form!

If you're wondering if this is for you, ask yourself the following:

• Are you a parent of a young child with a disability?
• Are you interested in learning more about systems and services that impact your child?
• Do you want to learn how to take your advocacy to the next level?

If you answered yes to the above we encourage you to click this link:

https://forms.gle/P2HvDUAz1FMctsgF8

and let us know that you're interested.

Self-Guided Module

All Behavior is Communication: Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports and You.

This self-paced training is designed to give background on the evidence based strategies of PBIS

• Gain understanding on what PBIS can look like in your child’s school
• Dive deep into evidence based practices
• Understand the tiered framework with practical strategies

Available now via Self Guided Training

Office Hours Zoom Discussion for this self-guided Module

takes place on December 27th from 12:30 – 1:30 MDT.

Via Zoom

Register Here

https://ipulidaho.org/event-registrations/12-01-2023-self-guided-module-positive-behavior-interventions-and-supports/

Once registered, the module will open in a new window.

You will also be sent an email with links to the module, a link to documents,

and a evaluation form.

Contact Idaho Parents Unlimited!

The best method to reach us for assistance is through our website:  

https://ipulidaho.org/connect-with-us/ . You can also shoot us a question using the abbreviated version of that form at the bottom of every page on our website, although we may need to get more information from you.

We monitor our intake phone line (208-342-5884) during the workday, and will try to respond to any request there within 24 hours. We use an automated intake phone system, so you will be leaving a message. (Please be sure the number you are leaving us can accept text or voice messages.)

For questions that are not about something in our scope of work, you can still leave a phone message as above, send the question to the form on our website, or shoot us an email at parents@ipulidaho.org.

We keep our website updated with new events and maintain a presence on Facebook, and Instagram

Programs and services offered by Idaho Parents Unlimited are supported in part by the U.S. Department of Education (H328M200033) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) Affordable Care Act Family to Family Health Information Center (H84MC12896), opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions of either department, endorsement is not assumed