Background
Family Voices was awarded a new three-year cooperative agreement from MCHB in March 2016 as the National Center for Family Professional Partnerships (NCFPP). The new project period will be June 2016 through May 2019. The project will focus on supporting and developing family and youth leadership, particularly the leadership of racially and ethnically diverse families of CYSHCN. This agreement will promote the engagement of diverse families in meaningful ways in systems level activities and encourage the reduction of health disparities through family engagement. The Statewide Parent Advocacy Network (SPAN), which serves as the Family-to-Family Health Information Centers (F2F) and Family Voices State Affiliate (FV SAO) in New Jersey, is partnering with Family Voices in this work, bringing their extensive expertise and experience in family and youth leadership training, especially for racially and ethnically diverse minority families.
PROJECT ABSTRACT
Project Title: Family Voices National Center for Family Professional Partnerships (NCFPP)
Applicant Organization Name: Family Voices, Inc.
Address: 3701 San Mateo Blvd. NE, Suite 103, Albuquerque, NM 87110 (Mailing Address: P.O. Box 37188, Albuquerque, NM 87176)
Project Director Name: Nora Wells
Contact Phone Number: (781) 879-6209 Contact Fax Number: (505) 872-4780
Email Address: nwells@familyvoices.org Web Site: http://www.fv-ncfpp.org/
Project Summary: Family Voices, in collaboration with Statewide Parent Advocacy Network of New Jersey (SPAN), proposes to continue to operate the NCFPP with the goal to improve the health and quality of life of children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN).
Project Need: Family Voices NCFPP has a nationwide reach, encompassing the families of over 11 million potential children. To assess needs, Family Voices solicited information from targeted groups and found persistent health outcomes disparities based on race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, disability, geography, literacy, and sexual orientation. There are many service gaps among these groups, demonstrating a need to prioritize activities aimed at ensuring that the voices of families whose CYSHCN face the greatest disparities are heard in efforts aimed at improving services to, and outcomes for CYSHCN. Engaging diverse families as partners and leaders improves health outcomes and health systems by addressing discrepancies. Diverse family and youth leaders need development and support to become effective participants, and Title V and other MCH investments need development and support to meaningfully engage them, in CYSHCN systems efforts. The NCFPP will provide that development and support.
Proposed Services: Building on years of success and a wide network of partners, the proposed project will 1) provide assistance and support to the HRSA-funded network of F2Fs and other MCHB investments on topics of family engagement and cultural and linguistic competence, and 2) implement family and youth leadership development and training activities, specifically for racially and ethnically diverse minority families of CYSHCN and YSHCN. Services will be offered in every region of the country for family organizations and others with intensive peer follow up support. Thirty-three F2F/FVSAOs have expressed interest, and key national MCHB partners have pledged support. Family Voices has outlined extensive activities that include widespread information exchange/dissemination and targeted peer and family-professional opportunities to learn.
Population to be Served. The target communities to be served are nationwide; the proposed project will have representation in every state and Washington, D.C. Proposed populations to be served are F2F/SAOs in every state, other family organizations and leaders, Title V Programs, other MCHB investments, families with CYSHCN, and YSHCN, particularly those who are currently underserved, including racially and ethnically diverse minority families, low-income, those living in geographically isolated areas, those with low levels of health and policy literacy, and LGBTQ families and their CYSHCN or YSHCN.