Rhode Island Parent Information Network (RIPIN) is making waves with exciting initiatives to support families and youth!:​ Unstoppable Futures Podcast  with Nathan Markley, Youth Coordinator, is curating an incredible lineup of episodes covering crucial topics such as: Advocacy, Employment Resources, Mental Health Resources and Healthy Relationships.

Region A Drop-In Call: The next Drop-In call will take place on Tuesday, May 6, from 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST. Our featured technical assistance presenter will be Kyle Reardon from NTACT-C. Join the call.

2025 Regional Conference: Help us plan by selecting your preferred dates. The conference for Parent Center Project Directors/Executive Directors, and one additional key staff member will begin at noon on the first day and conclude in the afternoon on the last. 2025 NEPACT Region A Conference - Date Preference Form.

The National Parent Center Conference | The Power of Parent Centers: Driving Positive Change will be held from April 8-10, 2025 at the Renaissance Denver Central Park Hotel. The agenda is very close to what attendees will experience during the conference. To view the agenda online, click HERE. Note: The RAISE Summit is April 10-12, 2025, with joint sessions between RAISE and the National Parent Center Conference on the morning of April 10th. DON’T FORGET OUR GROUP DINNER ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT! More details will follow soon.

2025 OSEP Conference: Save the date. August 5-6, 2025 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. This year's conference will span two full days, featuring informative and engaging sessions. ONLY ONE PERSON PER PROJECT (it should be the project director)! Registration is live here.

CPIR Calendar: Don’t forget to check out the HUB Central Events calendar at the Center for Parent Information and Resources (CPIR) for more webinars and events.

Leading Through Difficult Times: Top Tips for Managers: To say that these are difficult times is an understatement, but there are steps we can take to lead our organizations through these challenges. Read more.

Four Best Practices for Connecting Families to Resources: When it comes to connecting families to community resources, organizations are constantly innovating. Finding the right combination of relevance and timing is key to support families to engage with and use available resources. Find out more.

Supporting Youth Development for Adulthood: Explore this toolkit for resources on building essential skills for independence, decision-making, and overall well-being. Dive into the guide to explore practical strategies for supporting youth through their transition to adulthood here.

Ten Examples of Training Programs and their Benefits: From orientation and onboarding to internal and external professional development to shadowing other staff, staff development is critical to our success. Find out more.

Could Later School Start Times Help with Chronic Absenteeism in Maryland? Study after study has shown that sleep deprivation can lead to poor academic performance, a host of negative physical and mental health impacts, increased risk of driving accidents—the list goes on. Find out here.

English Learners with Disabilities Toolkit: The National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) focuses on including students with disabilities, ELs, and ELs with disabilities in instruction and assessments. Their English Learners with Disabilities Toolkit is designed to provide states and individualized education program (IEP) teams with eight tools they can use to better understand students who are ELs with disabilities, determine in which state assessment (general or alternate) the students should participate, and discover whether accessibility features or accommodations are needed for their participation in any assessment. View Toolkit here.

Harassment, Bullying & Retaliation: An important element in the prevention of harassment and bullying is the implementation of effective procedures for addressing civil rights complaints and grievances. Learn how you can develop strategies that will protect all students here.

Child Welfare: Child Welfare Information Gateway is your connection to trusted resources on the child welfare continuum. This resource provides publications, research, and learning tools selected by experts to support thriving children, youth, families, and communities. Check it out here.

In the Know: The True Cost of School Voucher Programs: Check out this interesting piece from the Bell Policy Center here.

Disparities in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Services and Supports: Why should we focus on disparities in intellectual and developmental disabilities services and supports? Learn more.

Government Information Data Rescue: Lots of data and documents have been “disappeared” from federal agency websites, but you can find them. Find out how.

Discipline and Positive Behaviors Supports in School: It is imperative that traditional school disciplinary procedures be replaced with positive classroom-management approaches that are empirically-validated to improve the academic as well as the social success of all students, and especially those students with behavioral health concerns. Read more.

IDEA Dispute Resolution Parent Guides and Companion Videos: A comprehensive series of resources specifically designed to support families navigating the dispute resolution process. These tools aim to empower families by providing clear guidance and practical assistance every step of the way. Check it out here.

How the Des Moines Public Schools Utilize Dropout Prevention Funding for Student Access: The funds are meant to help prevent students from deciding to end their education and covers many areas, from school safety to chronic absenteeism, healthy social interaction and conflict prevention between students, and helping students who may be falling behind catch up. Read more.

Emerging Trends in Early Childhood Education: What’s New for 2025: This guide explores the best digital and traditional resources for early years educators and explains how they can be integrated to create engaging and developmentally appropriate learning experiences. Read more.

We’re Not Prepared: States Brace for Trump’s Plans to Dismantle the Education Department: While the Administration’s Executive Order cannot, on its own, dismantle the Department of Education (only Congress can do that), states are already starting to think about what this will mean for them. This article addresses some of the challenges states, districts and schools would face. Check it out here.

Defining Equity in Education: Educational policies, practices, interactions, and resources are representative of, constructed by, and responsive to all people such that each individual has access to, can meaningfully participate in, and makes progress in high-quality learning experiences. Read more.

Elevating Black Americans’ Perspectives and Experiences: In a groundbreaking report, “Americans’ Views of U.S. Foster Care: Elevating Black Americans’ Perspectives and Experiences,” Kidsave and Gallup collaborated to examine how the American public — especially Black Americans — views the foster care system and adoption from foster care. Safe and stable homes are essential for all children in foster care; however, the need is even greater for Black children. Read more.

Fewer US grandparents are taking care of grandchildren, according to new data: There was a decline in young children going to preschool and more people stayed put in their homes in the first part of the 2020s compared with the last part of the 2010s, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released in December 2024, reflecting some of the effects. Read more.

Threats to Medicaid and Medicare: Potential Impacts on Vulnerable and Marginalized Populations: The National Association of Social Workers’ Social Justice Brief lays out these potential impacts here.

Federal Protections for Homeless Students Still in Place – But the Risks Are Real: Without the protections of the McKinney-Vento Act’s Education for Homeless Children and Youth program and the Title I Part A provisions for children and youth in foster care, 1.4 million children and youth experiencing homelessness, and 270,000 children and youth in foster care, will struggle to enroll and attend school. Read more.

Mothers, metaphors and dyslexia: What language reveals about the challenges of a child’s learning disability: Alarm bells. Red flags. A labyrinth. These are just a few of the metaphors that mothers of children with dyslexia use to describe the journey from noticing their child’s literacy challenges to receiving a diagnosis and then advocating to secure services to help their children succeed. Read more here.

Migrant farm workers go on high alert amid immigration raids: A potential labor shortage could have a severe impact on the U.S. economy. Learn more.

Tips on Creating Inclusive Schools and why it matters: It was a big deal and change when our country implemented the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. It offered special education students specialized accommodations and services as outlined in their individualized education plans (IEPs) and a chance to learn alongside their peers. Today, inclusion in schools means so much more than this. Learn more.

Why Juvenile Detention Reform Matters: Deten­tion is a piv­otal deci­sion point in the juve­nile jus­tice process. In the Unit­ed States, the aver­age length of stay is 27 days, yet research indi­cates that even a short turn in deten­tion can have an out­sized influ­ence on court out­comes. Learn more.

LGBTQ Inclusion in Youth Program Environments: Discover effective approaches to create supportive spaces for LGBTQ+ youth such as fostering inclusion, addressing specific needs, and encouraging positive youth development. Find the full guide here.

Transform Workplace Mental Health with a Skills-Based Approach: Mental health is no longer a personal issue—it’s a workforce challenge. Nearly 1 in 4 U.S. adults (23%)—or almost 60 million Americans—experienced a mental illness in 2021-2022. Learn more.

Best Practice for Military Families with Special Education Needs: This fact sheet provides essential guidance and strategies tailored to support military families navigating special education needs.

Alaska Native Tribe Defends Against Claims Its Food Assistance Program is Wasteful Government Spending: As Indian Country contends with slashed funding from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an Alaska Native tribe is defending claims that its food assistance program is wasteful spending. Read more.

Ways to Support Your Child in School (for Military-Connected Families): Military One Source has information for military-connected families on how to support their child(ren) in school. Check it out here.

What Proposed Federal Budget Cuts and Policy Changes Will Cost Children: First Focus provides an excellent summary of how proposed federal budget cuts and policy changes will affect children, including throwing many more of them into poverty. The piece notes that children’s needs are already woefully underfunded. Despite making up about 23% of the US population, children received less than 9% of the federal budget in FY 2024, a significant decrease from the nearly 12% share in FY 2021. Read more.

'I'm not safe here': Schools ignore federal rules on restraint and seclusion: No federal law prohibits restraint and seclusion, leaving a patchwork of practices across states and school districts with little oversight and accountability, according to parents and advocates for people with disabilities. Read more.

Relationships Are Key to Kids’ Growth — And They’re in Crisis, Expert Says: Education in the 21st century is obsessed with assessing children, attempting to measure every aspect of their intelligence, learning and growth. Yet we are not, according to Isabelle Hau, measuring what matters. Read more.

The digital accessibility revolution: Why states are taking the lead: The future of digital accessibility is being shaped at the state level, creating a more robust and nuanced framework than federal regulations alone could provide. Learn more.

Job Training Exists for Students With Disabilities. Many Never Get It: Washington makes money available to the states to help young people with disabilities enter the workforce. New Jersey has the worst record of helping connect families with such help. Learn more.

Exposure to Hate Speech Deteriorates Neurocognitive Mechanisms of the Ability to Understand Others’ Pain: What’s the impact of being exposed to hate speech on our children? Read this informative - and scary - research piece here.