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Funded by Family NET Works
A project of the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council under a grant from the
Administration on Developmental Disabilities
Family NET Works, is pleased to announced the following programs which received mini-grants of up to $8,000 for their collaborative efforts to address key areas of need for families and individuals with disabilities in the rural areas of the State of Maryland.
Past Grant Recipients
H.A.M. - How About Me
A collaborative effort between Bay Shore Services, Inc. and The Arc of Worcester County, Inc., H.A.M. will outreach to families and individuals with disabilities in Wicomico, Worcester, Talbot, Caroline, Queen Anne, Cecil, Dorchester, Somerset and Kent counties. Special emphasis will be placed on outreach to minority and non-native English speaking families. The goals of the project include:
- Outreach and education to families and individuals about services and programs available on the shore
- Organize advocacy workshops for families and individuals with disabilities
- Provide information, resources and contacts needed to empower individuals and families to access programs not traditionally available to people with disabilities
- Organize two new self-advocacy groups on Lower and Mid-Shore, who will act as mentors for families and resource advisors to agencies wishing to increase participation of people with disabilities.
For more information contact: Heather Patchett, Bay Shore Services: (410) 341-0307 or Starr Todd, The Arc of Worcester County: (410) 352-5318
Abilities Network/Project ACT
A Collaborative effort between Abilities Network and Resources for Families and Children in Hagerstown, Maryland, this project will provide 20 training workshops to childcare providers in Allegany, Washington, and Garrett Counties. The training will be geographically accessible as it will be provided through distance learning technology at times convenient to providers, such as evening, weekends, and naptimes. The goals of the project include:
- Enhance the quality of care for all children by delivering technical assistance on-site
- Enhances the ability of providers to comply with licensing requirements by providing training opportunities on a wide variety of topics
- Increase the ability of the providers to provide care to children diagnosed with cognitive and physical disabilities, and children with significant behaviors that place them at risk of being dismissed due to inappropriate behaviors.
For more information contact: Deb Simon, Abilities Network: (410) 828-7700 or Jean Stoner, Resources for Children and Families: (310) 733-0200
Increasing Awareness of Mental Health Services in the Minority Neighborhoods
A Collaborative effort between the Mental Health Center, Ashbury United Methodist Church, and Each One Teach One, this project will outreach to African-American population in Washington and Garrett Counties. Funds are targeted to purchase videos, pamphlets, printed materials, posters books for presentations and sharing information about mental illness and services for African-Americans. The goals of the project include:
- Increase awareness and opportunity for African-American community members about mental health services
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Increase comfort and trust of population in minority neighborhoods, so that greater numbers of individuals seek out services
- Reduce use of drugs and alcohol, physical abuse and social withdrawal
- Partner with existing community services such as church groups, youth organizations, and fraternal clubs within the targeted community.
For more information contact: Mark Lannon, The Mental Health Center: (301) 791-7891, or Rev. Yvonne Mercer-Staten, Ashbury United Methodist Church: (301) 791-0498.
Title: Partnership for Inclusion
Project Partners: Abilities Network, Inc. and Baltimore County Local Management Board
Purpose: To work together to ensure that all programs initiated in Baltimore County are designed to include school age children with disabilities who attend before and after school programs.
Goals:
- To provide technical assistance to the Local Management Board in writing their proposal for funding to include services for children with disabilities.
- To increase the number of children with developmental disabilities included in Before and After school programs.
- To develop and provide pre-service training to before and after school programs in Baltimore County.
- To provide technical assistance to new programs which are including children with disabilities into their program for the first time.
Accomplishments:
- Development of a three hour training curriculum for before and after school programs to promote inclusion of children with disabilities
- Curriculum includes information on inclusion and key terms, specific disability information; how to create an inclusive environment; adapting activities; and use of community resources.
- Work with Local Management Boards (LMB) (focus on avoiding
out-of-state placement of children) to ensure that disability training
is a requirement of all new programs
- LMB now reviews proposals to ensure that local grantees are building
inclusive programs that meet the needs of all children
- Two training sessions have been conducted for 24 total participants, 16 providers from and 8 Directors of Before and After Advisory Committee for Baltimore County Public Schools.
- Three more sessions are planned to include programs in Baltimore City Police Athletic League Programs and Baltimore County after school providers, with an anticipated 30-40 additional providers trained.
- Program staff have been working with Local Management Board, The Maryland Committee for Children and Before and After Committee to identify systems change issues, such as issues surrounding the fact that
- National Dissemination of this model program which can be replicated in other regions of the state and across the country
Contact Person: Paula Boykin
Phone: (410) 828-7700
Title: The Latino Community: Reaching Out to Make a Difference
Project Partners: The Arc of Prince George's County, GWFC Cheverly Women's Club, Prince George's County School Special Education Department and the Prince George's County Public Schools English as a Second Language Program
Purpose: To provide outreach to families with children with developmental disabilities in the Latino Community.
Goals:
- To increase awareness among Latino families in Prince George's County of the services available when a family member has a developmental disability.
- To provide assistance to those Latino families who need help accessing the system and the available supports.
- To translate materials and literature about services to people with developmental disabilities in Prince George's County.
- To meet with leaders in the Latino community and provide training in the services available to individuals with developmental disabilities.
- To publish a Spanish language newsletter for distribution to families throughout PG County.
Accomplishments:
- Translation of 15-20 applications for services (developmental
disabilities services, respite services, personal care services) and resource sheets into Spanish.
- Translation of the booklet produced by Maryland Disability Law Center (MDLC), Special Education Rights…And Wrongs into Spanish.
- Packets of translated materials have been distributed to 34 provider agencies in Prince Georges County and across Maryland.
- Wide outreach to the Latino community regarding disability issues and
services using articles in Spanish publications, an ESOL program,
Spanish and generic community organizations, schools with a
concentration of Latino students, and early intervention case managers
- An article printed about the program in The East-West Highway, a family support services newsletter in Spanish, which is distributed through the County's schools, adult education center, libraries and government offices.
- Creation and airing of a 30 second commercial which aired 5 times a day for 9 weeks on Telemundo/Channel 64, which reaches almost 600,000 cable homes through the Metro DC area.
- Partnered with MDLC on a focus group to discuss strategies for expanding and improving upon Special Education for Latino children with disabilities.
- Outreach efforts to Latino families resulted in 67 new family memberships to the Arc, and over 50 phone calls.
- Specific assistance through Rolling Access was provided to five (5) families; three (3) families were assisted in completing the DDA applications for service; and, (2) families were provided assistance with school related concerns.
- An outreach party was held in collaboration with Infants and Toddlers Family Support Network and Prince Georges County Health Department. Over 165 children and adults attended this successful event.
- The Arc of PG County, in collaboration with the Maryland Disability Law Center, hosted a workshop in Spanish on Entendiendo las Leyes de Education Especial (Understanding Special Education Laws). Seven (7) parents attended this workshop.
Contact Person: Mary Funk
Phone: (301) 925-7050
Title: Caring Teens
Project Partners: Caring Communities, Inc. and Jewish Family Services, Inc.
Purpose: To expand respite options to the Orthodox Jewish Community
Goals:
- To provide innovative outreach to families of observant or Orthodox Jewish communities
- To utilize the existing network within the Jewish community to locate respite and after school care providers to be trained and parents in need of respite services.
- To train community members to provide needed respite care.
- To provide trained respite workers to meet the special needs of Jewish families (beliefs, dietary or religious laws, or other culturally specific needs.)
- To develop a Respite Registry which will list trained providers available to local families with children with disabilities.
Accomplishments:
- Revision of Caring Teens curriculum to focus on including over 40 children with special needs at Camp Milldale, a camp run by the Jewish Community Center.
- Training of (30) Orthodox Jewish teen and adult camp counselors to provide
meaningful, inclusive camp experience to children with disabilities
- Additional training will be provided to 15-20 teens for Bais Yaakov, an ultra-orthodox all-girls school in Baltimore County.
- Outreach about the project was facilitated through an article in the Jewish Times Magazine, June, 2000.
- The project has expanded impact through collaboration with KADPA, and has a two-day training schedule to train approx. (20) Korean-American teens and young adults in Howard County to provide respite care for children who have disabilities.
- Development of a Respite care provider registry underway, which will, when completed be given to Jewish Family Support Groups, Jewish Family Services
Contact Person: Mona Freedman
Phone: (410) 549-5707
Title: KADPA Outreach Project
Project Partners: Korean American Disabled People Association and The Arc of the Northern Chesapeake Region
Purpose: To unite isolated Korean-American people with disabilities and their families into their community.
Goals:
- To identify isolated Korean-American people with disabilities and their caregivers.
- To increase their awareness of support groups.
- To develop a transitional program for individuals with disabilities and their families to participate in community programs.
- To organize a bilingual volunteer pool to assist families of individuals with disabilities.
- To develop a brochure and website for Korean-American families.
Accomplishments:
- Development and wide distribution of an informational brochure and
website in Korean to over 1,000 people through elementary schools, hospitals, Korean Doctors Offices, and Korean American Churches.
- Establishment of a toll free telephone number for Korean families in
need of services and/or support.
- Held (3) seminars for Korean families to train on estate planning,
introduce them to respite care and an outreach program, and garnered
increased acceptance of needed family supports
- Assisted (17) seventeen Korean families previously unaware of services to apply for support from the state's developmental disabilities program (DDA)
- Provided services to a total of 130 families, including 30 new families.
- The Korean parent organization is working to obtain funding from the
Developmental Disabilities Administration and the Uniyte to offer family support
services to unserved Korean families. KADPA also held a fundraising event which was attended by 750 people. Applications for continuation funding have been submitted to Developmental Disabilities Administration and United Way.
- Translating a special education rights publication and other
disability-related publications into Korean.
Contact Person: Shin Ki Kim
Phone: (800) 510-0023 or (410) 575-7365
Title: Parent to Parent
Program Partners: The Arc of Montgomery County, Maryland State Department of Education Infants and Toddlers Parent Support Network, Partners for Success Centers, and local parent and advocacy groups.
Purpose: Parent to Parent is based on the philosophy that parents, who themselves have experienced the joys and frustrations of parenting a child with special needs, can offer new parents a valuable resource. It is a program designed to put parents in touch on a one-to-one basis with a trained supportive parent whose child has a similar or related disability. The Montgomery County Parent to Parent Program is striving to provide Parent-to-Parent matches across the age span, as it has become clear that some of the most difficult periods for families are during transitions, including transitions into adulthood.
Goals:
- To establish the program by holding an initial one-day institute in October, 2001 to offer training and technical assistance on developing local Parent to Parent Programs
- To provide technical assistance via a follow-up training planned for the Family Focus conference in December 2001.
- To connect parents across the state through:
- the development of local parent to parent programs
- the institute and regional trainings,
- provision of technical assistance over the telephone, and,
- development and distribution of written materials and resources to local Parent to Parent programs
Accomplishments:
This project has just been approved for funding. The grant period will begin in June, 2001.
Contact Person: Rita Penn
Phone: (301) 984-5777
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