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In This Issue

March 2009

Upcoming Events

1. Save the Date – National Post-School Outcomes Parent Center Webinar
2. ALLIANCE Institutes

Parent Center Updates

1. Parent to Parent of Miami Director Receives Advocacy Award
2. News from the National Parent Centers
3. Join the Parent Center Facebook and YouTube Pages!

Announcements & News

1. TA&D Project of the Month: Center for Early Literacy Learning (CELL)
2. President Obama Names New Disability Advisor
3. National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week

Resources

1. IRIS Center Web Tour
2. Disability History Fact Sheet
3. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Resources
4. IssueLab Disability Research
5. Assistive Technology Resources

Technology

1. Free PDF Convertors
2. TraduceloAhora
3. Technology Advisory Committee

Nonprofit Management

1. Nonprofit Finance and Strategy Articles

Upcoming Events

Save the Date – National Post-School Outcomes Parent Center Webinar

The ALLIANCE National PTAC will be hosting a webinar presented by Jane Falls of the National Post-School Outcomes Center on May 7 at 3PM EDT. Look for registration information in April!

ALLIANCE Institutes

Save the date for the upcoming ALLIANCE Institutes! Institute selection forms are due to the ALLIANCE National Parent Technical Assistance Center by April 13.

September 14-16, 2009: Technology Institute in Minneapolis, MN
September 21-23, 2009: Management Institute in Minneapolis, MN

Parent Center Updates

Parent to Parent of Miami Director Receives Advocacy Award

Isabel Garcia, director of Parent to Parent of Miami, will be presented with the Cruz-Whitehurst Advocacy Award at this year’s Tropical Nights event benefiting the University of Miami’s/Nova Southeastern University’s Center for Autism and Related Disorders. Isabel is being honored for her ongoing advocacy for the rights of children with disabilities and their families. The event will support various programs providing direct services to families as well as various research initiatives. Congratulations to Isabel on receiving this award!

Tropical Nights event Web site
Parent to Parent of Miami’s Web site

News from the National Parent Centers

National Indian Parent Information Center (NIPIC)

NIPIC’s National Conference will take place June 16-17, 2009 in Albuquerque, NM. They are offering scholarships to Parent Center staff to cover hotel and registration costs. Details are available on the NIPIC Web site – www.nipic.org.

Specialized Training of Military Parents (STOMP)

Resources for Military Families:

Sesame Street’s “Talk, Listen, Connect: Helping Families During Military Deployments” videos: These videos are designed to help support military families with children between the ages of 2 and 5 experiencing deployments, multiple deployments, or the return of a deployed parent who has changed due to a combat-related injury.

Military OneSource is a 24/7 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) resource for military members, spouses and families. In addition to their Web site, their toll free number (1-800-342-9647) is always answered by a live person to assist callers.

Join the Parent Center Facebook and YouTube Pages!

Don’t forget that you can now connect with your Parent Center colleagues through Facebook and YouTube. Check out the new videos that have been posted or start a discussion today! If you have questions, contact kerryjo.johnson@pacer.org.

Click here to become a fan of the Parent Center Facebook page.

View the Parent Center YouTube channel. 

Announcements & News

TA&D Project of the Month: Center for Early Literacy Learning (CELL)

The Center for Early Literacy Learning (CELL) is research-to-practice technical assistance center at the Orelena Hawks Puckett Institute in North Carolina. Their main goal is to promote the adoption and sustained use of evidence-based early literacy learning practices by early childhood intervention practitioners, parents, and other caregivers of young children, birth to five years of age, with identified disabilities, developmental delays, and those at-risk for poor outcomes. CELL recently developed practice guides for parents with activities to engage infants, toddlers, and preschoolers in early literacy learning.
More >>>

President Obama Names New Disability Advisor

President Obama recently named Jeffrey Crowley as the Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, and Crowley will also work as a disability advisor on the President’s Domestic Policy Council. The Office of National AIDS Policy coordinates national prevention and treatment of people with HIV and AIDS.
More >>>

National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week

The National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Heath has declared May 4-8, 2009 as the National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week. The message for the week will focus on the following messages:

• Mental health is essential to overall health and well being.
• Serious emotional and mental health disorders in children and youth are real and treatable.
• Children and youth with mental health challenges and their families deserve access to services and supports that are family driven, youth guided and culturally appropriate.

More >>>

Resources

IRIS Center Web Tour

IRIS trainer Tim Braun, professor at the School of Education at Loyola Marymount University, will provide a tour of the IRIS Center Web Site on Wednesday April 8 at 3 PM EDT (2 PM CDT, 1 PM MDT, 12 Noon PDT and AZ). To participate you will need access to the IRIS Web site (www.iriscenter.com) and a phone line for the audio portion. To register and receive the call-in number, fill out the form at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=JoqfSREM6wEvdrh9WGzaIQ_3d_3d.

Disability History Fact Sheet

The Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) at the Department of Labor recently released a new fact sheet called Disability History: An Important Part of America’s History. The document provides a brief overview of historical events that led to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.
More >>>

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Resources

The U.S. Department of Education has developed a Web site to post the most current official documents regarding the implementation and use of funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Fact sheets, state allocations, and other information are available.
More >>>

IssueLab Disability Research

IssueLab, an online publishing forum for nonprofit research has recently compiled a list of reports relating to people with disabilities and employment. The collection includes documents about youth programs, government supports, and information for employers.
More >>>

Assistive Technology Resources

FCTD Newsletter
The latest newsletter from the Family Center on Technology and Disability looks at the role of the Assistive Technology (AT) professional and the implementation of AT in the classroom.

CR4AT Article
This article from Community Research for Assistive Technology discusses issues around the area of assistive technology and ethnic minorities.

Technology

Free PDF Convertors

The following resources are free tools that can be used to create PDF (Portable Document Format) documents.

CutePDF
PDF Creator

¡TraduceloAhora!

¡TraduceloAhora! is an automatic translation software program that provides Spanish speakers with access to English web content and produces bi-directional email translations between Spanish and English speakers. Through a national grant from IBM, the ALLIANCE National Parent Technical Assistance Center at PACER is able to provide Parent Centers and others with free access to this program to share with the families and professionals they work with. Email gretchen.godfrey@pacer.org if you would like to register and receive a project passcode to share.
More >>>

Technology Advisory Committee

This TechSoup article describes the benefits and action steps of organizing a Technology Advisory Committee. For nonprofits not ready to form a full team, some beginning steps are also listed.
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Nonprofit Management

Nonprofit Finance and Strategy Articles

The Blue Avocado, an online nonprofit magazine, has a section of articles focused on nonprofit finance and strategic leadership in this area. Recent articles cover topics such as tracking volunteer time, the new 990, audits, and budgeting.
More >>>

Featured ALLIANCE Publications

Why Parent Centers? Why the ALLIANCE

Explains how Parent Centers serve families and how the Technical Assistance ALLIANCE for Parent Centers serves the nation’s 100 Parent Centers. Data on Parent Center effectiveness and contact information is included.
More >>>

Parent Centers Helping Families: Outcome Data 2007-2008

Data collected and compiled by the ALLIANCE about the numbers of people served by the nation’s Parent Training and Information Centers (PTIs) and Community Parent Resource Centers (CPRCs).
More >>>

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