Family Voices Indiana

We hope that many of you took the opportunity to share your comments regarding changes to First Steps at firststepsweb@fssa.in.gov. If you still have concerns regarding these changes, Family Voices suggests that you contact your state legislators. You can find that information here: http://www.in.gov/legislative/legislators/ DDRS released this notice regarding changes to First Steps on Oct 1: First Steps The Division of Disability and Rehabilitative Services (DDRS) is responsible not only for meeting the financial obligations of the First Steps program today, but for supporting an early intervention system that is sustainable for future generations. With this in mind, DDRS looked closely at the First Steps program to determine where reasonable budget adjustments could be made and to identify potential sources of additional program revenue. The resulting changes are aimed at increasing accountability and improving communication among providers and families, while maintaining a system

Family Voices is partnering with researchers at Georgetown University to track how health reform is affecting families, and in particular, families who have children with special health care needs. If you are willing to help with this effort, we would like to interview you twice about your child’s health care coverage- once now and once in the Spring of 2011. Each of these interviews should take approximately an hour. We will use the information to help inform policymakers about what is working and what isn’t when it comes to the early stages of implementation of health reform. Any information that you provide will be kept totally confidential and your identity will be protected and you will receive some compensation for participating in the project. Additionally, should you need additional assistance in dealing with whatever difficulties you are experiencing due to health reform, we will make sure that you are connected with your F2F or any other entity that we think could be helpful