The Parent Information Center and New Hampshire Family Voices, are statewide organizations that have been working with families, children, and the professionals that support them for over 40 years. Our organizations provide information and training to help families, providers, and systems builders make informed decisions so that NH families can get the support they need to see their children thrive.
Many recognize PIC for our work with families who have children with special needs, learning, and attention issues. This is a core area of expertise for us. We provide a wealth of services to help families understand their child’s developmental and educational needs, the laws that govern early supports and services, and the special education process. What some do not know is that our service model includes all Granite State families and providers.
Our organization has been recognized as a pioneer in creating family/school/community partnerships where families and providers leverage each other’s strengths and learn from one another to achieve positive outcomes for the children in their care.
From our inception to the present, the Parent Information Center has demonstrated an ability to identify and respond to the changing needs of children and families in NH.
We do this by:
- Helping families and students understand the systems and programs they are a part of and how to navigate them.
- Providing families with information to make informed decisions based on their individual needs and goals.
- Assisting families, schools, and communities to increase meaningful family engagement in children’s learning and development.
- Coaching families and providers in building productive partnerships to achieve positive outcomes.
- Supporting families and students in finding their voice and building agency to become leaders in their own lives and inform programs and systems that support them.
- Providing resources and referrals to other NH agencies.
Our various grant programs address a variety of key issues in order to help families support their children’s success in school and in life.
We work with:
- Families
- School districts
- Parent groups
- Community organizations
- Family Resource Centers and family support services
- NH Department of Education and the NH Department of Health and Human Services
Our healthcare arm, New Hampshire Family Voices, is part of a network of families and friends of children and youth with special health care needs/disabilities around the nation.
In the early 1990s, during the health care reform discussions of the Clinton administration, a group of families of children and youth with special health care needs realized that no one was speaking up for the unique concerns of their children. These families contacted other parents they knew around the nation. Families responded enthusiastically and there was an immediate groundswell of support to advocate for better health care for their children. Family Voices was born.
New Hampshire was one of the first Family Voices organizations in the nation to respond to this call. NH Family Voices began in 1994 as a grassroots network of families of children and youth with special health care needs for the purpose of sharing information, resources, health programs, and policies.
Today, NHFV continues its work to assist parents and professionals in navigating the systems of care that deliver services. Through the engagement of families across NH, and our partnerships, we participate in program development, implementation and provide free, confidential services to families and professionals caring for children with chronic conditions and/or disabilities. We empower and inform families and professionals to feel confident when making choices for children and youth in their care.
We do this by:
- Helping families understand the systems of health care they are using and how to navigate and influence them
- Providing families with tools to make informed decisions as they experience diagnosis and treatment options
- Assisting families in accessing health care financing options for their family members with special health care needs.
- Helping families, providers, communities to come together to create a “fully accessible” community for children with special health care needs.
We work with:
- Families
- Health care providers
- Community groups
- NH state government
- Health care payors