Pennsylvania Family Corner

Advocacy and Support Organizations
The Child Advocacy Project of Philadelphia: www.cap4kids.org/philadelphia/
Within this site you will find a user-friendly, comprehensive listing of many social service agencies that exist to improve the lives of families that need our help the most. The Parent Handouts and sample advocacy letters are the backbones of this project. The Parent Handouts are broken down by category and within each handout, you will find a description of the social service agency, their address, and a phone number. You may also find a link to the agencies web site that you can access and learn more about that agency. You may also download a PDA version of these handouts for quick access to the descriptions of various agencies and their contact information.

Family Voices: www.familyvoices.org/st/PA.htm
Partnering with professionals and families to advocate for health care services that are family-centered, community-based, comprehensive, coordinated and culturally competent.

NAMI of Pennsylvania (National Voice on Mental Health): namipa.nami.org/
Education, advocacy and support for persons with brain disorders (mental illnesses) and their families.

Parent to Parent: www.parenttoparent.org/
Parent to Parent of Pennsylvania is a network created by families for families of children and adults with special needs. They connect families in similar situations with one another so that they may share experiences, offer practical information and/or support.

Parent Education Network: www.parentednet.org/
PEN is Pennsylvania's statewide Parent Training and Information Center. Much of the information included in this site is designed to support Pennsylvania parents of children with special needs, but information and links are included on Federal Special Education, National Disability Issues and Resources, Special Education Legal Links, Transportation, and Travel that will also pertain to parents and individuals with disabilities in other states.

The Mentor Parent Program, Inc: www.mentorparent.org/
The Mentor Parent Program is a community-based parent project created in 1989 by parents of children with special needs to support, assist and provide expertise to parents in rural northwest Pennsylvania.

Resources and Information
Early Hearing Detection & Intervention (EHDI) Contact and Program Information

Family Village: www.familyvillage.wisc.edu/index.htmlx
A global community that integrates information, resources, and communication opportunities on the Internet for persons with cognitive and other disabilities, for their families, and for those that provide them services and support. This site offers informational resources on specific diagnoses, communication connections, adaptive products and technology,adaptive recreational activities, education, worship, health issues, disability-related media and literature, and much, much more!

The Association for Retarded Citizen (Arc) Family Resource Guide www.thearc.org/familyguide/pennsylvania.doc
This guide is written for families raising children with mental retardation and related developmental disabilities. It tells families about benefits, supports and services in their state that might help their child.

Note: The information provided on the state pages was submitted by the state medical home teams.As this is not an exhaustive list, please let us know if you have additions for your state resource page. You can contact us at: medical home@aap.org.

Last Updated July 27, 2006