Family Voices Indiana

Contributed By:  Melissa Dubie , Educational Consultant Let’s presume that you have already completed a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) and are implementing a behavior support plan because a student on the autism spectrum has continually displayed problematic behavior. Yet as you put the plan into place, the student’s behavior still rises to the crisis level. This article will describe behavior stages that any student in a crisis mode will escalate through when displaying extreme emotions. The stages may include: anxiety, refusal, release, and building rapport toward a resolution. In addition, helpful hints and proactive strategies in each of the phases will be described particularly when working with students on the autism spectrum. When any student is in a crisis mode, his/her emotional state is high while his/her quality of judgment is very low. It is also important to note for some students’, behavior starts with anxiety and escalates through phases while others may com

From Indian Assn of United Ways: Legislative Update Webinar  May 5 Register now for the final Legislative Update Webinar  being hosted by IaUW and the Indiana Coalition for Human Services.  The webinar will provide a recap of the 2017 legislative session and updates on key human services legislation.  Live recording will take place on  Friday, May 5  at 2:00pmET and the webinar recording will be available online. Outcomes of the 2017 legislative session The  Indiana General Assembly  adjourned sine die on Friday, April 21 which concluded the 2017 long session.  Legislators made final decisions on key issues including the biennial budget, road funding, pre-k and more.  Below is a summary of IaUW's key priorities that were advanced during the 2017 session. Education Pre-k Expansion:   HEA1004  expands the current pre-k pilot to now include up to twenty counties. Combines the two current state-funded pre-k programs, Early Education Matching Grants (EEMG) a

An effective primary care medical home results in better health outcomes. An essential part of the medical home model is treating the whole patient, including addressing issues of mental and emotional health. To help families and professionals locate mental health resources, we have created a new fact sheet. You can find it embedded below, or on our website: www.fvindiana.org Find ALL of our fact sheets here: http://www.fvindiana.org/fact-sheets/ And, feel free to contact us if you need additional information or support: 844 F2F INFO, info@fvindiana.org FS MentalHealth by Family Voices Indiana on Scribd

from National Family Voices: Hello family leaders  – Please take action ASAP and try to get many others to do so as well.  An urgent situation has developed regarding the House bill that would to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and restructure and cut the Medicaid program.  A vote on the bill could occur as early as  Friday  or  Saturday . In short, a proposed amendment to the House Republicans’ health care bill – the American Health Care Act (AHCA) -- has been endorsed by the House conservative Freedom Caucus, so the bill will now have many more supporters.  The so-called “MacArthur” amendment would make the original bill worse.  If this bill passes --  ·          Medicaid would be restructured and less federal money will go to states, so states will have incentives to cut benefits, eligibility, and reimbursement. ·          24 million people would lose their health care. ·          States could get waivers to: o     Do away with ACA’s Essential Health

Republican leaders are not giving up on repealing the Affordable Care Act. Yesterday,  media leaked text that modifies the harmful House repeal bill  to make it more appealing to conservative Republicans.  Make no mistake: The proposed changes only make a bad bill worse.  Take Action:   Urge your representative  in Congress to oppose any bill that will increase the number of uninsured, decrease federal protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and cut Medicaid. And tell them it’s time to drop harmful campaign to repeal the ACA.  New proposal takes aim at people with preexisting conditions The new proposal allows states to seek waivers from enforcing the ACA’s core protections for people with pre-existing conditions for almost any reason a state claims. Under this harmful amendment, states could:  Allow insurers to  charge people higher premiums based on pre-existing conditions  for a full year if they have a small gap in coverage. States could allow insurers t

Family Voices is a grassroots organization serving families of children and youth with special health care needs and the professional who serve them.  We are only as strong as the sum of our parts, and we invite you to use your voice and networks to help us raise our voice. Anytime we have a change in administration at the local, state, or national level, there is a possibility that long standing programs might undergo changes. In these instances, it’s important for families to advocate for their children and the programs that support them. We have seen the power of our collective voice  as the American Health Care Act was sent back to the drawing board, and this has been, in part, credited to the overwhelming voice of the American citizenry as concerns for their health care, livelihoods, and families were expressed to Congress.  At each step, Family Voices Indiana provided our network with action and advocacy alerts as well as factual information about proposed policy and

By Michelle Andrews Kids with chronic conditions are especially vulnerable to health insurance changes, relying as they often do on specialists and medications that may not be covered if they switch plans. A new study finds that these transitions can leave kids and their families financially vulnerable as well. The research, which examines the spending impact of shifting chronically-ill kids from the Children’s Health Insurance Program  (CHIP) to policies offered on the health law’s marketplaces, found that their families’ out-of-pocket costs would likely rise, in some cases dramatically, following a change to marketplace coverage. The study comes at a time when health insurance issues are on the front burner in Congress. Republican lawmakers are pushing for fundamental changes to the marketplaces and to the Medicaid program. At the same time, Congress must soon decide whether to extend CHIP when its funding ends in September. Together the state-federal Medicaid and CHIP progra