Children and Families

What’s health got to do with transition? Everything…there is a generation of youth with special health care needs, chronic health conditions and disabilities who have survived beyond their diagnosis/prognosis. The HRTW Center’s desired outcome is for all youth with special health care needs (YSHCN) to receive the services necessary to transition to all aspects of adulthood, including adult health care, employment and independence. Review their tools and solutions for transition planning.

This report describes examples of more narrowly focused state legislation that is setting the policy and infrastructure for consumer direction, expanding the direct care workforce, and supporting persons who return to the community after living in institutions. The Appendix includes the specific legislative language of selected bills covered in the report.

The Parent to Parent of New York State– Family to Family Healthcare Information and Education Center developed a number of fact sheets in Spanish to assist the parents they serve. Fact Sheet titles include: HCBS Waiver Programs, Navigating Doctors Appointments, Searching the Internet for Medical Information, Medication Tips, Record Keeping Suggestions, Relieving Stress. They have also developed a 34 page Care Notebook where families can keep a complete record of a child’s medical history.

The DRA may have significant effects, given the high proportion of young children enrolled in Medicaid-28 percent of all children under age 6 in 2001-and the broad range of services covered. This report analyzes the provisions of the DRA and assesses their implications for the provision of early childhood preventive and developmental services. Changes include citizenship documentation, the use of a benchmark option, cost-sharing benefits and the financing of targeted case management.

Popular with journalists, this guide is useful for those interested in health policy issues. Chapters contain key facts, an overview, expert sources with telephone numbers, story ideas and helpful websites. Topics presented for current policy discussion include: the uninsured, private health coverage, children's health coverage, Medicare, Medicare prescription drugs, Medicaid, long-term care, health care costs, quality and health information technology, disparities, mental and public health.

Speaker presentations from the recently concluded 19th Annual State Health Policy Conference in Pittsburgh are now available. Topics include Helping Troubled Youth, High Performance Health Systems, Balancing Long-Term Care, Improving Quality, Assuring Better Child Health and Development, Redesigning Coverage in Medicaid, Patient Safety, and Using Data to Inform Public Policy. Review the presentations and other hot topics in state health policy.

Transition can be defined as a continuing process toward independent adulthood. This paper illustrates the time line and products developed to foster improvements in the transition process for students with disabilities as partial fulfillment for the WV Real Choice Systems Change grant. In February 2005, an initial summit was held on youth transition to accurately assess the stance of educators, other professionals and parents. The results of this and future meetings can be found in this report.

Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital has designed supports for youth with disabilities and their families as they transition from youth to adulthood. The three stage program creates a \"medical home\" for the youth age 14-21, creating relevant goals, and working with schools and community agencies to meet objectives. Resources included: initial assessment, checklists for the three areas of development (medical, psychosocial, and independent living), a parent checklist, and a bibliography.

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) are two of the nation’s most important federal laws relating to the education of children. Lately, these two laws have taken on new importance to parents of students with disabilities. Because it’s important that parents understand the requirements of NCLB, The National Center on Educational Outcomes has developed a guide for families which resources centers might find useful to disseminate.

This presentation was developed by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene as part of their Real Choice Systems Change Grant. The grant created and executed a Discharge Planning Resource Seminar to educate discharge planning professionals about basic Medicaid services as well as other State-run and privately-funded home and community-based services. The attached presentation reviews the progress, outcome and evaluation of the outreach efforts.