Wisconsin Family Assistance Center For Education Training And Support

PROVIDE AND BROADEN OPPORTUNITIES THAT ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR CHILDREN AND ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES AND THEIR FAMILIES WITH AN EMPHASIS ON SUPPORT FOR UNDER-SERVED FAMILIES IN THE COMMUNITY.

REGIONAL PARENT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTERS PTAC - PROVISION OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO OSEP-FUNDED PARENT CENTERS. SERVED 19 FEDERALLY FUNDED PARENT CENTERS IN 16 STATES IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, ND, OH, SD, WV, WI, WY. THE PROJECT WEBSITE WWW.REGIONSCPTAC.ORG CONTAINS ARCHIVED WEBINARS MANY ONLINE RESOURCES TO ASSIST PARENT CENTERS TO IMPLEMENT THEIR GRANTS. OVER 566 DIRECT REQUESTS FOR TA WERE RESPONDED TO THE REGION C BITE SIZED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT MESSAGES WERE PUBLISHED ON A WEEKLY BASIS WITH RESOURCES RELATED TO NON PROFIT MANAGEMENT, TECHNOLOGY, OUTREACH, PARENT SERVICES, MULTICULTURAL ISSUES, EDUCATION PRACTICES ETC. 18 VIRTUAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES WERE OFFERED TO CENTERS. A UNIVERSITY SPONSORED NON PROFIT MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATION PROGRAM WITH OVER 40 HOURS OF PROGRAMMING WAS PROVIDED. OUTCOMES 91 OF TRAINING PARTICIPANTS REPORTED WEBINARS WERE HIGH QUALITY, 91 REPORTED THE INFORMATION WAS USEFUL, AND 92 REPORTED THAT THE CONTENT WAS RELEVANT. 95 OF INDIVIDUALS FROM PARENT CENTERS WHO RECEIVED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE SAID IT WAS USEFUL.

PARENT TRAINING AND INFORMATION CENTER PTI - OUR MISSION IS TO PROVIDE TRAINING, INFORMATION SUPPORT TO FAMILIES OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES OTHERS IN WI. WEVE TRAINED 4,675 PEOPLE, REACHING 2,072 PARENTS AND PROFESSIONALS THROUGH CALLS, EMAILS, LETTERS, AND IN-PERSON MEETINGS. WEVE CONDUCTED 27 EXHIBITS AND DISSEMINATED 18,392 PIECES OF INFORMATION. OUR SOCIAL MEDIA EFFORTS HAVE REACHED 198,182. OUR PROJECT STAFF HAS BEEN ACTIVELY INVOLVED, ATTENDING 57 STATEHOLDER/POLICY/TASK FORCE MEETINGS TO WORK ON SYSTEM CHANGE INITIATIVES. WEVE SUPPORTED FAMILIES AT 52 IEP MEETINGS, AND 9 MEDIATIONS. THE IMPACT OF OUR WORK IS EVEIDENT IN THE OUTCOMES 100 OF PARENTS REPORTED THEY UNDERSTOOD THE INFORMATION THEY RECEIVED FROM WI FACETS AND FELT COMFORTABLE USING IT, AND 100 INDICATED THEY INCREASED THEIR CONFIDENCE IN PARTICIPATING IN SPECIAL EDUCATION PROCESSES. WEVE HAD 15,972 WEBSITE VISITS WWW.WIFACETS.ORG AND SECURED 18 MEDIA SPOTS, ALL CONTRIBUTING TO OUR MISSION OF SUPPORTING FAMILIES.

FAMILY ENGAGEMENT LITERACY - INCREASE THE KNOWLEDGE AND ENGAGEMENT OF FAMILIES TO TAKE A MORE ACTIVE ROLE IN THE EDUCATION OF THEIR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES, IN RELATION TO SPECIAL EDUCATION, EVIDENCE-BASED EDUCATION PRACTICES, LITERACY AWARENESS AND IMPROVING LITERACY OUTCOMES FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES. TRAININGS TOPICS WERE SUMMER READING, COMPONENTS OF LITERACY, SERVING ON GROUPS THAT MAKE DECISIONS, CULTURAL RESPONSIVENESS AND SPECIAL EDUCATION, INCLUDING SPECIFIC TRAININGS ON SUPPORTING FAMILIES THROUGH THE SPECIAL EDUCATION PROCESS FOR LANGUAGE INTERPRETERS AND TRANSLATORS. A MONTHLY FAMILY ENGAGEMENT NEWSLETTER WAS DISSEMINATED OVER 38,622 TIMES. OUTCOMES 96 RESPONDENTS REPORTED THE CONTENT OF THE SERVING ON GROUPS THAT MAKE DECISIONS TRAINING WAS RELEVENT FOR ALL EVALUATED LITERACY TRAININGS, 70 OF RESPONDENTS REPORTED THE CONTENT OF THE TRAINING WAS RELEVANT 100 OF SPANISH-SPEAKING FAMILIES AND 60 OF ENGLISH-SPEAKING FAMILIES REPORTED AN INCREASE IN KNOWLEDGE RELATED TO UNDERSTANDING LITERACY EFFORTS. 85 REPORTED INCREASING THEIR INTERPRETATION SKILLS.