“And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.”
— Rainer Maria Rilke
It’s 2020! The New Year always seems like a good time to reflect on the work accomplished in the previous year. In this issue of the Buzz, we would also like to share with you how our work and enthusiasm of 2019 will result in some new exciting products for you in 2020.
We start with two of our most visited resources of 2019, simply as a reminder of the many useful tools that are there for you to use. Then we turn your attention to our 2019 labors that are already bearing much fruit for you and your work with families in 2020. This includes our resource collection on serving Native families that will be launched on our February 6 webinar and a super useful tool for managing your organization.
And so we bridge from one year to the next. May 2020 be a great year for us all!
Our best to you all,
The CPIR Team | Debra, Debi, Lisa, Jessica, and Myriam
___________________________
Two Favorites from 2019, Revisited
Advocacy in Action: A Guide to Local Special Education Parent Advisory Councils
This guide is a road map to help bring stakeholders together. It suggests strategies to help them engage in dialogue, and discusses best practices for working together to benefit the local community. The guide draws on experience and practice from states in which local SEPACs have been in operation for decades.
Responding to Disasters
This resource seems forever in season, unfortunately. It connects with tools you can use to prepare for a natural disaster, respond during a disaster, and support recovery of families and communities after a disaster. The webpage is part of our Resource Collection on Trauma-Informed Care.
2020 | Let Us Grow and Flourish
Learning Hub is Launched!
Great progress was made on the launching of the Parent Center Learning Hub, an online system for Parent Center self-paced learning about topics key to our mutual work. Parent Center Directors were invited to take the Learning Hub for a spin, and Parent Center staff will be next… Look for your personal invitation early in 2020.
Keeping the Keys to Your Parent Center
Ever had a key staff leave and take the administrative access to your website with them? Remember that time you couldn’t renew your domain name because no one knew what the password was? Every Parent Center has a horror story to tell.
This organizational tool can come to your rescue. It is basically a road map to the important documents and other vital information involved in running your organization every day. The information you record herein is especially critical when succession planning is being discussed and prepared for, and/or when it actually happens. The tool is a fillable Word file, so it can be modified to fit your Center’s reality and as information changes. Safe-keep it, in case you need it someday!
Launching of the Native American Resource Collection
Parent Centers have a responsibility to serve American Indian and Alaska Natives in their service regions. This is new terrain for many, and one that benefits greatly from a starting point of cultural awareness, insight, and historical perspective. To its honor, CPIR has been charged with converting and integrating into the Hub the NAPTAC library of Native American resources for Parent Centers. Half of the enormous collection will go public in our planned February 6th webinar at 3 pm Eastern. See the “Save the Day” below.
SAVE the Date! February 6, 2020 @ 3 pm Eastern
Webinar | Serving Native American Families | CPIR Resource Collection
Date | February 6, 2020 (Thursday)
Time | 3:00 – 4:15 Eastern
Summary | The Native American Parent Technical Assistance Center (NAPTAC) produced a rich collection of materials for Parent Centers to use in planning and conducting outreach to the Native American families of children with disabilities in their service regions.
Please join us to tour the first half of the Native American resource collection, now on CPIR’s website. See what’s available, gain an understanding of how the materials are organized and why, hear from the creators of the NAPTAC library and from Parent Center colleagues involved in Native American outreach, and see what will be added in coming months. CPIR is honored to host this incredible collection of materials, and we enthusiastically invite your attendance.
Back to top
___________________________
The CPIR hopes that you’ve found useful and relevant resources listed in this month’s Buzz from the Hub. Please feel free to write to the editor, Lisa Küpper, at lkupper@fhi360.org to suggest the types of resources you’d like to see in the future. CPIR is listening! Your input is extremely valuable to helping us to craft newsletters that support your work with families.
Debra, Debi, Myriam, Jessica, and Lisa
The CPIR Team
____________________________________________________________
This eNewsletter from the CPIR is copyright-free.
We encourage you to share it with others.
Center for Parent Information and Resources
c/o SPAN, Inc.
35 Halsey St., Fourth Floor
Newark, NJ 07102
https://www.parentcenterhub.org
Subscribe to the Buzz from the Hub.
See past issues of the Buzz.
____________________________________________________________
Publication of this eNewsletter is made possible through Cooperative Agreement H328R130014 between OSEP and the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network (SPAN). The contents do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of Education, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government or by the Center for Parent Information and Resources.