Activity #8 Parent Support and Advocacy Organizations

Family Centered Case Management Module

Section 4, Part 2- Activity 8:Service Coordinator:

Activity #8 Parent Support and Advocacy Organizations

Family Centered Case Management-Community Partnerships------“Connecting Children and Families to Supports and Services”

This section, “Connecting Children and Families to Supports and Services,” will provide you with a framework to conceptualize the extensive system of supports and services that link families to needed services.

Keep in mind that the agencies you are introduced to reflect SOME but not all resources. Learning about all of the available resources for families is an ongoing process.

Directions: Explore the websites below that provide support to families. When you have finished, complete the matching exercise and give to your supervisor.

As you explore the websites, gather information to learn the following:
1. service(s) and/or supports that each agency provides to families and children,
2. relevant contact information,
3. procedures or processes to successfully link families with identified services, and
4. how each agency supports your work as a Service Coordinator.

1. Texas Parent to Parent
2. Hands and Voices and Texas Hands and Voices
3. Disability Rights
4. Texas Partners Resource Network (PRN)
5. Office of Attorney General, Office of Child Support Division
6. The ARC of Texas
7. Texas Project First
8. Texas Guide By Your Side

What Have You Learned?
Directions: Read the following description of services. Match the websites to the services that are described. Websites may be used more than once.

1. Texas Parent to Parent

2. Texas Hands and Voices

3. Disability Rights

4. Texas Partners Resource Network (PRN)

5. Office of Attorney General, Office of Child Support Division

6. The ARC of Texas

7. Texas Project First

8. Texas Guide by Your Side

Directions: Read the following description of services. Match the above websites with the descriptions below. Websites may be used more than once.

1. ______This group is a part of a national network of organizations that provide direct legal assistance to people with disabilities whose rights are threatened or violated.

1. ______This organization provides unbiased support and offers resources to families of children in Texas who are deaf or hard of hearing.

1. ______This organization provides unbiased support for families with children deaf or hardof hearing through parent guides or deaf and hard of hearing guides. Parent guidesare parents of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Deaf and hard of hearingguides are adults who are deaf and hard of hearing themselves and are speciallytrained to provide a variety of services to families.

1. ______This organization is the oldest and largest non-profit volunteer organization in Texas to support individuals with intellectual and other disabilities.

1. ______This website can link you to information about your Regional Educational Service Center and the special education process.

1. ______This organization offers education to medical personnel, i.e. physician interns about issues related to children with disabilities (how to work with the family, how to share information with the family, information about how the family experiences medical services). It also provides training to parents on how to support other parents, and offers to match parents of a child with a disability or medical concern requesting the support of a trained parent volunteer.

1. ______This organization is a statewide network of federally funded Parent Training and Information Centers. The mission of this organization is to empower parents as decision-makers and advocates.

1. ______This state agency is the official child support enforcement program for the state of Texas.

1. ______This organization provides an annual conference for parents of children with disabilities or other special needs.

1. ______This organization was created to advance public policies, provide training programs and build a statewide network of advocates for individuals with disabilities.

1. ______This program is a project of the Texas Education Agency and is intended to provide accurate and consistent information to parents and families of students with disabilities birth to post graduate.

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