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(802) 876-5315
1-800-800-4005
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Strong Families. Strong Futures. |
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Greetings, VFN family and friends!
Happy Autumn! I hope that you and yours are able to safely enjoy some of the beautiful weather and color of this special time in our state, and that your back-to-school activities are taking advantage of the great outdoors. I hope, too that our "Persevering in the Pandemic" series of learning opportunities has been helpful as we move into the seventh month of the Covid-19 crisis, and continue to do all we can to keep the virus at bay here in Vermont. Check out the recorded and upcoming offerings in our series here.
The 2020 Legislative session has finally adjourned, and campaign season is upon us. I hope that you have registered to vote, and that you can take advantage of the voting options that best suit you and your family, including voting by mail. Now more than ever, the voices of families of children and youth with disabilities are critically important---I encourage you to take advantage of opportunities to ask candidates for office about the issues that matter most to you, and exercise your right to vote.
I am pleased to announce that the U.S. Department of Education/Office for Special Education Programs (U.S. DOE/OSEP) has named Vermont Family Network (VFN) as the Parent Training and Information Center (PTI) for Vermont for the next five years, awarding the organization $200,000/year. We are delighted to be able to build on over 30 years’ experience of helping families of children and youth with disabilities meet developmental and functional goals and academic standards, thus improving their early learning, school-aged and post-secondary outcomes.
We are excited to share our hot-off-the-presses FY 2020 Annual Report, and all the excellent work that VFN’s staff, families, and young people have accomplished in the year ending June 30, 2020. Let us know what you think, and if you have questions, please contact me at Pam McCarthy.
From the heart,
Pam McCarthy, M.Ed.
CEO/President
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Family Faculty Programs Going Strong |
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Every family has a story to tell. Our Family Faculty programs allow these stories to be heard by medical and education students. Families illustrate the importance of family-centered care through their storytelling.
Our Family Faculty programs are going strong amidst the pandemic! We have hosted Parent Panels at St. Michael’s College and the University of Vermont via Zoom. During these panels, undergraduate and graduate students listen to family stories, see pictures and videos, and ask questions. The online format works amazingly well! We are grateful to all of our parent volunteers for their flexibility and commitment to making these programs such a success.
Our Medical Education Project, in which third-year medical students visit families in their home, is also in full virtual swing. It is challenging to recreate the intimacy of a two-hour home visit via Zoom, but our families are getting creative! And the students still report how impactful and illuminating it is to hear family stories.
Do you feel inspired to tell your family story? Would you like to inspire future medical and education professionals? We’d love to hear from you! Please email our Family Faculty Coordinator, Jenny Norris, to learn more.
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If you are or know of a young person with a disability between the ages of 14 and 26 who is interested in a leadership opportunity, please consider joining the Youth Advocacy Council! Membership in this Council can help build advocacy and leadership skills in a fun, accepting environment.
If you are or know of a young person with a disability who has graduated and would like to share their experiences transitioning from high school to adult life, VFN is looking for your participation in a panel on October 13 and/or October 27. Youth Voice! will highlight YOUR story as a young adult who has made a successful transition from high school to post-secondary education, training, or employment. Each participant will receive a stipend. If you are interested or have any questions, please contact Martha Frank.
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New! VFN Annual Report for FY2020 |
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We are so happy to share the work of Vermont Family Network over the last fiscal year, July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2020 in our Annual Report. It has been a most unusual year. In March, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, we, like many organizations, had to shift all that we do to virtual platforms. All of us are still working from home at the time of this writing. Our staff and volunteers, with excellent support from our Board, came up with creative solutions to continue serving families and provide a whole new level of impactful support across Vermont during this crisis.
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Our signature family-to-family support, information, and trainings reached 922 families and 150 professionals, lifting family voices for positive change and advancing inclusive communities throughout the state.
- Our Children’s Integrated Services Early Intervention (CIS-EI) program gave a strong start to 584 Chittenden County infants and toddlers and their families, making an immediate shift from face to face home visits and childcare supports with amazing agility when that became necessary this spring.
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Puppets in Education (PiE) has continued to increase VFN’s reach within and beyond Vermont, engaging 6816 people throughout our State, New York, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, helping all children address difficult issues like bullying and abuse.
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The Vermont Special Education Rules are currently open for comment and the State Board of Education will listen and read testimony until December 31, 2020. Everyone can participate and you could provide valuable input based on your experience with the special education process which could influence the final changes to the Rules. Karen Price from VFN submitted comment in April 2020. If you have any questions on HOW and WHY you should consider participating in Rule Making, please plan to attend this webinar, “Preparing Families to Provide Testimony About Changes to Special Education Rules” on October 7th at 1 pm. This learning opportunity is a collaboration between VFN, the Disability Law Project and EdLaw New England. Please register here.
VFN is also gathering information regarding proposed changes in this short survey. If you participate, VFN will aggregate and share the results with the State Board of Education If you have any questions about this survey, please contact Family Support at (802) 876-5313 or info@vtfn.org. The survey will be open until October 30.
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The Puppets are (nearly!) ready to work in schools, and we will be rolling out our first programs in mid-October. We are offering Anxiety/Worry for grades K-4 all year, and starting in January, Bullying Prevention for K-4 plus Anxiety for 5-. To request programming for your school, please fill out this form or email Karen Sharpwolf. We are working hard to meet each school’s needs: from in-person to virtual; Google to Zoom; at home days or in school days; and many things in between.
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Contact Us. We Will Listen! |
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Helping Vermont Families thrive for more than 30 years |
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Updated!
Grant Funding Resource List
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Join our closed Facebook group for parents only |
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VFN's Online Learning Series - Persevering in the Pandemic |
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Upcoming Events - Register today! |
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We are grateful for the continued support of our sponsors!
October 7 from 1 pm – 2:30 pm – Preparing Families to Provide Testimony About Changes to Special Education Rules. Presenters: Attorneys from Vermont Legal Aid Disability Law Project and EdLaw New England.
October 19 from 9 am – 10 am – Family Strategies for Mitigating the Long-Term Effects of the Pandemic. Presenter: Dr. Marlene Marone, Licensed Psychologist-Doctorate, Chief Psychologist & Manager, Psychological Services, University of Vermont Medical Center. Register here
October 29 from 12 noon – 1 pm – Disabled Children’s Home Care (VT’s Katie Beckett Medicaid) Eligibility & New Application. Presenter: Betty Morse, HST/Technical Assistance Specialist, Children with Special Health Needs (CSHN), Vermont Department of Health. Register here
Details Coming Soon! November date TBA – Strategies for Families of Children/Youth Living with Anxiety During the Pandemic. Presenter: Jeremiah Dickerson, MD, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Vermont Center for Children, Youth, & Families
Details Coming Soon! December, date TBA – Telehealth. Presenter: TBA
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(802) 876-5315 / 1-800-800-4005
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Main Office
600 Blair Park Rd, Ste 240,
Williston, VT 05495
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