Family-to-Family Health Care Information and Education Centers

VIRGINIA

Grant Information


Name of Grantee

Medical Home Plus, Inc.

Title of Grant

The Virginia Integrated Network of Family Support Organizations Center (VA INFO Center)

Type of Grant

Family-to-Family Health Care Information and Education Centers

Amount of Grant

$165,000

Year Original Funding Received

2005

Contact Information


Cynthia Jones, Executive Director
Co-Director, Virginia Family to Family Resource Center
Medical Home Plus, Inc.
8660 Staples Mill Road
Richmond, VA 23228
804-264-8428 (b)
877-264-8366 (toll-free)
cjones@medhomeplus.org

Dana Yarbrough, Co-Director
Virginia Family to Family Resource Center
Executive Director of Parent to Parent of Virginia
804-795-1481
PTPofVA@aol.com

Subcontractor(s)

Graphics design consultant
Evaluation and strategic planning consultants

Target Population(s)


Families with children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN), as well as grassroots organizations and other stakeholders.

Goals


  • Create a statewide Family-to-Family Health Care Information and Education Center (called the Virginia Family to Family Resource Center) designed to strengthen and expand the capacity to connect CSHCN and their families with services and resources that promote health and well-being.
  • Provide leadership (through expansion of the newly forming Integrated Network of Family Support Organizations coalition-called VA INFO) to the Center by linking collaborators and grassroots organizations, and promoting awareness, support, and participation of families.
  • Develop a statewide and national presence that supports systems change, providing feedback to Virginia's stakeholders, CMS, and existing Family-to-Family Health Care Information and Education Centers to improve health care for children.

Activities


  • Gather, create, and disseminate information on resources, services, and training opportunities for families with CYSHCN.
  • Promote training and education on home and community services and support for CYSHCN, parent groups, providers, and other stakeholders.
  • Create a timely and cost-effective process for sharing information and making referrals that support children and their families in their communities across the Commonwealth (e.g., Medicaid waiver, respite, home health, transportation, etc.) through partnerships.
  • Maintain updated information on the Center Web page and share point portal (electronic workspace).
  • Coordinate matches between families for emotional support.
  • Partner with family support groups and/or agencies to create new resources for families.
  • Provide forums for families in different parts of the State; facilitate peer group discussion.
  • Create a process that enables providers and family support organizations to work together to identify needs, develop proposals, and secure funding to address unmet needs of children with disabilities and special health care needs in Virginia.
  • Participate in state and local councils, committees, and task forces to help facilitate systems improvements.
  • Provide input and feedback to Virginia's stakeholders, CMS, existing Family-to-Family Health Care Information and Education Centers; and status updates to legislators.

Abstract


Today in Virginia, family members of over 270,000 CYSHCN (approximately 15 percent of Virginia's total child population) struggle to find resources and services. The percentage of Virginia's children with disabilities (ages birth to 17 years) is higher than the national average, as is the percentage of these children living in poverty (National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs). Family Voices of Virginia (a program of Medical Home Plus, Inc.) and Parent to Parent of Virginia, in collaboration with VA INFO (the Virginia Integrated Network of Family Support Organizations), are committed to addressing this critical need.

The Virginia Family to Family Resource Center will build capacity in the Commonwealth to assist CYSHCN and their families by gathering and disseminating information, providing training and technical assistance, developing resources, creating partnerships across agencies and family support organizations, promoting individual- and family-directed supports, and collaborating with other Family-to-Family Health Care Information and Education Centers nationally. The work of the Center will be assisted by the family support coalition (VA INFO), whose members are committed to supporting the development and operation of the Center, and working toward a "seamless" system of care for CYSHCN and their families.