Health care
Raising Special Kids is Arizona’s FamilytoFamily 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.
To refer a family to Raising Special Kids, please visit our I'm a Professional 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:
Wendy Benz, Coordinator of Family Health Information
phone: 602/242-4366, x218
email: wendyb@raisingspecialkids.org
Information on Healthcare Financing
Navigating public healthcare 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.
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.