Arizona Family-to-Family Health Information Center
The family voice for children with special health care needs
Raising Special Kids is Arizona’s Family-to-Family Health Information and Education Center. Family Health Centers provide information, training and assistance to families, connecting them to statewide resources for their children and youth with special health care needs.
The Arizona Family-to-Family Health Information Center, a project of Raising Special Kids, is funded under Grant Award #H84MC07942 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Division of Services for Children with Special Health Needs. This parent-run center provides free, confidential technical assistance to families raising children and youth with special health needs, professionals, and others. Contact us for information about:
- Health Care Financing
- Medical Home
- Early & Periodic Screening
- Navigating Community Services
- Transition to adult systems of care
- Family/Professional Partnerships
To refer a family to Raising Special Kids, please visit our Refer a Family page.
Raising Special Kids works to support the development of effective partnerships between parents and health care professionals. Through this project and others, we partner with health care providers, state agencies, programs for medical residents and student nurses, and with other community organizations. In working with professionals, our goals are to promote their understanding of the value of family-centered, culturally competent care so these principles are put into practice.
The Family-to-Family Health Information and Education Center builds on prior initiatives to represent the family voice in Arizona on issues related to children with disabilities and special health needs. Specific activities in statewide initiatives address access to care, electronic health records, emergency preparedness, insurance coverage, improving service delivery, and other important health care policy issues.
Our many years of collaboration and partnership with numerous state agencies and organizations enhance our ability to serve families -- especially those in rural and underserved areas. Our primary partner in this project is the Title V Program at the Arizona Department of Health Services, Office for Children with Special Health Care Needs (OCSHCN). We work closely with OCSHCN on a wide variety of projects such as:
- parent and youth leadership development
- family-centered care trainings for medical residents and student nurses
- pediatric transition to adult systems of health care
- Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) family outreach programs
- Title V Block Grant
- web-based trainings
- community development
Raising Special Kids is also the Arizona chapter of Family Voices, a national network which advocates for health care services and provides information for families of children and youth with special health care needs. Arizona's Family Voices chapter operates in partnership with the Arizona Department of Health Services, Office for Children with Special Health Care Needs (OCSHCN).
In 2004, Raising Special Kids received the first federal grant in Arizona for a Family-to-Family Health Information and Education Center from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In June 2007, Raising Special Kids was awarded a three-year federal grant to expand our project as a Family-to-Family Health Information Center with funding from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau.
For more information contact the Coordinator of Family Health Information at: 602-242-4366 or 800-237-3007.
Health care reform
Publications from the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP) designed to assist in understanding and implementing key Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) provisions are below. These resources focus on provisions related to promoting medical homes, adolescent health and children and youth with special health care needs.
Health Reform: What's in it for Adolescents?
Health Reform: What's in it for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs?
Health Reform: What's in it to Promote the Medical Home?
Information on Health Care Financing
Navigating public health care systems and understanding private insurance can be challenging. For assistance, please call us at 602-242-4366 or 800-237-3007. For information sheets on various agencies and organizations, please visit our page of downloadable materials.
This information was developed with funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)/Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB)/Division of Services for Children with Special Health Needs through grant # H84MC07942
Raising Special Kids is a 501 © (3) nonprofit organization. All programs and services are offered at no charge to families. For more information, call (602) 242-4366, or (800) 237-3007 toll free.