Indiana Family to Family

Family Voices Indiana thanks our partner, American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Indiana Chapter , for facilitating the opportunity for Heather Dane to give testimony at yesterday’s Health Finance Commission. Heather, a health information specialist for FV Indiana, did an amazing job sharing how insurance denials impact families raising children with special health care needs. If you would like to share your voice at a future hearing let us know! Heather's testimony is embedded below You can find a list of all interim study commission meetings here: http://www.in.gov/ legislative/index.htm just click the daily schedule calendar to the right. We are happy to help you share your story; and the family leadership development fund may provide a stipend for such activities. Heather Testimony

We will be introducing the health information specialists for the family to family health information center at Family Voices Indiana over the next few months. Their biographies will also be included on our website. Every contractor at our center is a mother of a child(ren) with special healthcare needs and/or disabilities. We have personal experience navigating the systems and services in Indiana. We look forward to learning more about your families as well. Ofelia Jimenez feels blessed to be part of the Health Information Specialist team. In doing so she feels that she will be able to share what she knows with other parents and learn from other families as well. For more than ten years, she has been an active member of the Board of Directors of The Down Syndrome Association of Northwest Indiana, where she currently serves as the Vice President. Alongside other parents she also helped create a group called "HOPE" (Hispanic Organization of Parents of Exceptional Childre

The Family Leadership Development Fund assists families to participate in activities (public forums and meetings, task forces and work groups, etc.) that are intended to solicit public/consumer input and perspective concerning disability-related public policy, programs and services. Some examples of approved activities might include attendance at these public meetings: State Advisory Council for Special Education (SAC), Interagency Coordinating Council (ICC), Developmental Disability (DD) commission, Select Joint Commission for Medicaid Oversight, Transition council, Sunny Start advisory council, Head Start council, etc This funding does NOT pay for trainings and conferences. Families are encouraged to apply for other sources of funding: GPCPD consumer investment fund, parent training in the IEP, local service organizations, parent training funds via the Medicaid waiver program Parents who request to participate in formal meetings, committees, task force, etc. may receive a s