PREParation for Emergencies and Recovery for Individuals with Disabilities and Their Families (PREP) - provides individuals with disabilities, families, service providers, and community members the critical information needed for individual preparedness in the event of a natural or man-made disaster.

Training is customized to geographic location and local hazards. Presenters include self-advocate and local emergency responders.

Participant outcomes:

• Individuals with disabilities are aware of their own need for emergency Preparedness
• Individuals with disabilities and their families prepare for emergency situations and develop PREP plans
• Service system is aware of needs of people with disabilities
• Service system is prepared to support individuals with disabilities and their families in the event of an emergency

Supporting Families 24/7: Strategies for Working Families with Children who have Special Needs - provides an overview of work-life balance issues and the unique challenges on employees with children who have special needs and offers strategies for successfully managing competing demands.

Participant outcomes:

• Understand impact of having a child with disability or special need on employees
• Learn the benefits of work-life balance for employee, employer, and family
• Learn strategies for support work-life balance
• Learn about services and support to foster improved work-life balance

Collaborating for Success: Creating a Local Collaboration Team (LTC) to Support Families with Complex Needs – provides a blueprint for developing an effective community capacity building strategy to leverage the resources of the entire community to address the needs of families with children who have special needs. LCTs work collaboratively to offer more effective, coordinated and comprehensive services for families, and address the complex service needs of families.

Participant outcomes:

• Learn key elements of collaboration
• Explore benefits of collaboration and partnership
• Identify potential collaboration team members
• Learn strategies for creating and sustaining a local collaboration team

Evidence-based Caregiver/Provider Collaboration - builds the case for effective interventions that build on family strengths and provider expertise to foster positive relationships between service systems, service providers, and customers.

Participant outcomes:

• Achieve a better understanding of the impact of having a child with special needs on the caregiver and family unit
• Learn strategies to build collaborative partnerships between caregivers and providers
• Explore effective engagement strategies and problem solving techniques

Surviving and Thriving: Supporting Families with Children who Have Special Needs - explores the stages of adjustment that families often experience and identifies types of services and resources that strengthen and support families with children who have special needs.

Participant outcomes:

• Achieve a better understanding of the impact of having a child with special needs on the caregiver and family unit
• Learn to identify and access informal and formal supports for families
• Learn strategies to better support families with children who have special needs

Creating Positive Summer Camp Experiences for Campers with Special Needs for Camp Staff – provides knowledge and skills to understand special considerations for campers who have special needs, and to design programs that help ensure a positive experience for campers and their families.

Participant outcomes:

• Achieve a better understanding of common issues and concerns of families regarding the camping experience
• Learn about special considerations in developing programming for campers with special need

Creating Positive Summer Camp Experiences for Your Child who has Special Needs – equips parents and caregivers with information to select the right summer camp experience for their child.

Participant outcomes:

• Learn what to look for in a camp and making the selection
• Achieve a better understanding of common issues and concerns of families regarding the camping experience
• Lear tips for ensuring a successful camping experience

Supporting Military Families with Children who have Developmental Disabilities across North Carolina - raises awareness of the challenges facing military families with children who have developmental disabilities living in communities across the state, and strategies to support them.

Participant Outcomes:

• Awareness of the unique needs of military families with children who have developmental disabilities
• Military families with children who have developmental disabilities across North Carolina are able to access formal and informal supports from both military and civilian service systems
• Family support that addresses the social and emotional needs of these families is explored

Additional workshops developed upon request

Training offered with a family-centered perspective by staff with personal and professional experience working with diverse families who have children with a wide range of special needs and disabilities.

Customized workshops on topics related to:

• Cultural competence
• Family-centered practice
• Family advocacy
• Self-advocacy
• Educational advocacy and family involvement in schools
• Sibling support and leadership
• Transition points

SibShops™ - provides a unique opportunity for brothers and sisters of children with special health and developmental needs to obtain peer support and education within a recreational context. SibshopsTM are designed for siblings between the ages of 8-13, but can be adapted for siblings who are younger or older.

Participant outcomes:

• Meet other siblings in a relaxed, recreational setting
• Discuss common joys and concerns with other siblings of children with special needs
• Learn how others handle situations commonly experienced by siblings of children with special needs
• Learn more about the implication of their brothers’ and sisters’ special needs
• Provides parents and other professionals with opportunities to learn more about the concerns and opportunities frequently experienced by brothers and sisters of people with special needs.

FOCUS ON FAMILY AND DISABILITY SEMINAR SERIES - a seminar series in conjunction with the Clinical Lecture Series of the UNC Chapel Hill School of Social Work, the Focus on Family and Disability series provides a forum for experts from a range of disciplines and perspectives to share their research, practice, policy, and personal experience about disability and family support issues.

The lunch-time series is designed for a diverse audience including graduate students and faculty, community stakeholders, and families. Topics include timely issues related to disability and families such as: self-determination and independence; best practice in family support with individuals and their families; transition and post-secondary education; and promoting well-being and positive outcomes for individuals with disabilities and their families.

Events are held at the UNC School of Social Work. Registration information is available at www.cls.unc.edu. Most lectures are recorded and available online.

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS IN FAMILY AND DISABILITY RELATED DISCIPLINES – provides graduate students in family and disability related disciplines, including social work, special education, occupational therapy, speech and hearing, psychology, public health, and others specialized learning opportunities and curricula to enhance professional preparation for work with families with children who have special needs.

Graduate MSW Community Management Policy and Practice second year or advanced standing students may select the Family Support Program for their field placement and participate in a wide range of experiential learning opportunities related to families and disability. Students develop specified competencies in such areas as administration, policy, budgeting and resource development, contract management, grant writing, group facilitation, supervision, and program planning and evaluation.

Experiential Learning Opportunities: Participation in research studies; experiential learning in the field (e.g., shadowing or observing families and providers); attendance and presentations at conferences, workshops and seminars; internships as Research Assistants; paid consultants on research and service projects.