Wisconsin Personnel Development System (WPDS)

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Parent Leadership Hub Weekly E-Newsletter for August 27, 2009

This week's update is provided by WSPEI and WI FACETS to share statewide information regarding parent leadership and family involvement. Please visit the Parent Leadership Hub web page of the SPDG website at http://www.wispdg.org/pl.html for the current and archived weekly updates and to find information on these topics:

• WSPEI website: http://dpi.wi.gov/sped/parent.html
• WIFACETS website: http://www.wifacets.org
• Resources- Product Order Form, and Educational Materials for Parents
• Calendar of Events
• Multi-Media Resources- Workshops Online, Video Series, and Webcasts

The Parent Leadership Hub supports parents/family members, educators and other community partners to build capacity regarding meaningful family involvement. The Hub serves three primary purposes:
(1) To support parents of children with disabilities between birth and 26 years of age to participate as partners in the professional development activities of each of the other Statewide Initiatives as they design, deliver and support professional development experiences; and
(2) To facilitate opportunities for parents/family members to build leadership skills; and
(3) To provide Content Focused technical assistance concerning family involvement.

Please, direct any questions to the PL Hub Co-Facilitators:
Mary Skadahl, WSPEI Statewide Project Director at 715-829-8932 or marys@cesa12.k12.wi.us
Dawn Wians, WI FACETS SPDG Coordinator at 608-827-5234 or dwians@wifacets.org

Deadline for submitting contributions to each week's issue is Tuesday noon. For time sensitive training advertisements, the information should be sent a minimum of two weeks prior to the event date; ideally a month ahead of time. Material appropriate for the weekly newsletter include web links to sources of family involvement/parent leadership resources and advertisements for statewide trainings for parents, youth or parent/educator audiences (we don’t post research articles, reports or news opinion articles). Your submittal may not be in the final copy if it was in a previous weekly email, the event date has passed or the web link doesn’t work. Please, send submittals to phyllis@banbury.com

NOTE: Note: If you would like to receive this weekly update or if you would like to have your name removed from the distribution list, please contact Mary Skadahl or Dawn Wians.
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Parent/Personnel Development Opportunities

1. Did You Know? Now You Know? Trainings
   This training is an introduction to health care coverage and community supports for children and youth with disabilities and special health care needs ~ a Family Voices of Wisconsin training designed for:  parents, grandparents, caregivers, teachers, aides, health care and human services staff. The training will give participants a comprehensive overview of how to navigate health care and community supports available to their children and how to find creative ways to deal with waits for services. 
   
   The trainings will take place in the following cities during October and November of 2009: Waupaca, Port Washington, Salem, La Crosse, Red Cliff and Park Falls, Wisconsin. For more information, go to http://www.wfv.org/fv/training.html.   
2. Transition Community of Practice Meeting, Madison
   The next Community on Transition statewide meeting will be Thursday, Oct. 22 at 9 a.m. at the Goodman Community Center in Madison. The focus will be on family involvement. Please mark your calendars now for this meeting, and please invite anyone you know who is interested in transition to join the Community on Transition. They can send me an email to sign up for the statewide listserv. The community has three meetings per year, each focused on a different practice group. The current practice groups in Wisconsin are health and transition; youth leadership; employment; post-secondary; and family involvement. If you have any questions, contact Beth Swedeen at Waisman Center, (608) 263-6745, swedeen@waisman.wisc.edu
3. Arc National Conference, Pittsburgh
   The Arc is deeply invested in the community of those with intellectual disabilities. If you are, too, you may be interested in the Arc's annual conference on November 11-14, 2009 in Pittsburgh, PA. http://www.thearc.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=411 
4. Wisconsin Special Education Mediation System (WSEMS) Mediator Training
   May 17-21, 2010 at the Country Springs Hotel, Waukesha, Wisconsin from 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. WSEMS is seeking to expand its mediator roster in order to reflect the growing diversity of our state. Our current needs are for experienced mediators who are bilingual, as well as mediators who live in the northern part of Wisconsin. However, we will also consider applicants that may be asked to join the roster at a later date as the needs of WSEMS continue to grow and change. Attendance at the training does not guarantee a position on the roster. We encourage anyone with an interest in these cases to submit an application. Attendance is limited; please apply as soon as possible.
   Cost: $295.00
   
   Training will be provided by Nina Meierding MS, JD and other highly experienced practitioners in the area of special education.
   Application for Continuing Legal Credit (CLE) will be made.
   Training applications available at www.wsems.us/application.html
   For further information contact Jane Burns at (888) 298-3857 or jane@wsems.us
5. Long Term Care Support Information, Ashland
   This presentation is for people who require long term care supports and are or will be with NorthernBridges or IRIS to learn about and write their own outcomes. The material is geared toward those with intellectual disabilities. Mary Clare Carlson of People First Wisconsin will present the information.
   
   Tuesday, September 1, 2009
   New Horizons North
   514 West Main Street in Ashland
   1:00 - 4:00 p.m. or 6:30 - 9:00 p.m. (repeated)
   REFRESHMENTS!
   For More Information Call 715-682-7171
   

Family Involvement Resources

1. Peer Power Request for Proposals
   The Independent Living Council has released a second Request for Proposals for the development of additional Peer Power groups throughout Wisconsin.  The Request for Proposal is available at http://www.wcdd.org/grants_contracts/2009/Peer_Power_RFP.pdf
   
   Should you have any questions, contact Cheryl Schiltz at Statewide Peer Power Coordinator, Independent Living Council, 201 W. Washington Avenue
   Suite 110, Madison, WI  53703, 608-256-9257, cheryls@ilcw.org
2. 2009 AT Resources (CD-Rom)
   When you don't have ready access to the Internet, all of the information available on the website of FCTD, the Family Center on Technology and Disability, is packed onto FCTD's 2009 CD-Rom of assistive technology resources. Request a copy today!
   www.fctd.info  
3. Parent to Parent Support
   Parent to Parent of Wisconsin (http://www.p2pwi.org ) provides parent support to parents of children with special needs through a one-to-one connection with another parent who has similar experience and who knows firsthand about the feelings and realities that come with having a child with special needs. Support parents who speak Spanish are available by contacting Alianza Latina Aplicando Soluciones at http://alianzalatinawi.org or by calling 414-643-0022.

DISCLAIMER
Inclusion of information in this e-mail does not constitute an endorsement by the Wisconsin Statewide Parent-Educator Initiative, Wisconsin FACETS, the Department of Public Instruction, the U.S. Department of Education, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.