Services

Welcome to the Family Resource Center: Working for Positive Change Section

This section provides information on how to work for positive change for children with special health care needs and their families, including information on advocacy and how to get involved.

Click on the links below to access the information each resource provides.

If you know of additional resources that provide valuable information in this area, please email us at learning@medhomeplus.org so that we can include these resources in this database.

Organization	Link	What You'll Find There
Advocating Change Together	http://www.selfadvocacy.com/	A broad range of training materials on self-advocacy and leadership skills are available to order online
Council for Exceptional Children	http://www.cec.sped.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Policy_and_Advocacy	The Policy and Advocacy section of this website includes information on IDEA and recent legislative developments
Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund	http://www.dredf.org/	Information on disability rights laws including ADA, Section 504 and IDEA, as well as topics such as access to care and special education
Family Involvement Project	www.arcfip.org	Opportunities and training to help family members become involved in advocacy programs
Family Voices	www.familyvoices.org/pub/index.php?topic=leadership	Advocacy organization offering much useful information including Family Leadership resources
PEATC	www.peatc.org/plt.htm	Listing of parent leadership groups
US Department of Health and Human Services, Maternal and Child Health Bureau	http://cshcnleaders.ichp.edu/measuresachievingsuccess.htm	Information on the national Healthy People 2010 program for achieving success for all children with special health care needs, including performance measures and core outcomes
Virginia Coalition for Students with Disabilities	http://www.spedadvocacy.org/vcsd/index.shtml	This organization provides opportunities for families to become involved in legislative advocacy on behalf of children with disabilities
Voices for Virginia's Children	www.vakids.org/pubs.htm	Advocacy Guide: Best Practices in How to Be a Citizen Advocate, an excellent 36-page guide covering how policy regarding children with special needs is developed in Virginia and how families can act as advocates for positive change