Please Urge Your Members of Congress to Support Family to Family Health Information Centers
Family Voices Indiana hopes you will consider supporting our work as the Family to Family Health Information Center for the state.
SUMMARY:
In 2006, the Family Opportunity Act was signed into law, as part of the Deficit Reduction Act.
Family to Family Health Information Centers (F2F HICs) were established under this act, and
today there is one in every state and the District of Columbia. The Health Resources and Services
Administration (HRSA)'s Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) provide the primary funding
support for the Centers. F2F HICs are non-profit, family-staffed organizations that help families
of children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) navigate the health care system to
get appropriate services. The Centers provide assistance in a variety of ways, including support
and referral through direct telephone, e-mail or in-person contact, training through workshops,
advocating for and connecting families with resources, running listservs and websites, and
developing newsletters and family-friendly publications.
Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) have introduced bills
to extend funding for F2F HICs for an additional three years (through FY 2015) at current funding
levels. However, more bipartisan cosponsors are needed to move the bills forward. Please contact
your congressional delegations now, and ask them to become original cosponsors of the Menendez
bill in the Senate or the Pallone bill in the House.
In Indiana, the F2F HIC is Family Voices Indiana www.fvindiana.org
TAKE ACTION:
Call your Member of Congress:
Visit AUCD’s Action Center to find out the name of your Members of Congress (scroll down
and enter your zip code)
Dial the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for the office of your
Representative/Senators
Ask to speak to the person working on health/disability issues
Identify yourself as a constituent and the organization that you represent (if any)
Give them your message, then pass this alert along to other stakeholders!
Message: “I am calling to ask Representative _________ to cosponsor H.R. 4083, the bill to amend
Title V of the Social Security Act to extend funding for Family to Family Health Information
Centers (F2F HICs). Support of this bill will amount to an additional three years of funding
(through FY2015) to help families of children and youth with special health care needs navigate
the health care system to get appropriate services. Thank you.”
“I am calling to ask Senator _____ to cosponsor S.2123, the bill to amend Title V of the Social
Security Act to extend funding for Family to Family Health Information Centers (F2F HICs).
Support of this bill will amount to an additional three years of funding (through FY2015) to help
families of children and youth with special health care needs navigate the health care system to
get appropriate services. Thank you.”
TALKING POINTS
Indiana’s F2F HIC (Family Voices Indiana) provides a wide array of services to individuals
with special health care needs and their families, including support and referral through
direct telephone, e-mail or in-person contact, training, advocating for and connecting
families with resources, and developing family-friendly publications.
The Centers continue to assist families in making informed decisions about health care
in order to promote good treatment decisions, cost-effectiveness, and improved health
outcomes for such children.
You can share if you are a family member/professional helped by Family Voices Indiana,
or partner of Family Voices Indiana , please describe how the Family Voices Indiana has
helped you or your patients/clients/members. These personal stories are very effective!
BACKGROUND:
Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) have introduced bills to
reauthorize F2F HICs for an additional three years (through FY 2015) at current funding levels. The
House bill (H.R. 4083) has 6 cosponsors; the Senate bill (S. 2123) has 5, with one Republican, Sen.
Olympia Snowe (R-ME).
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