Staff at F2F HICs understand the issues that families face and help them make their own informed decisions. F2F HIC staff provide information and options, offer a multitude of resources, and tap into a network of other families and professionals for support and information.
South Dakota Parent Connection is part of two national networks, the ALLIANCE and Family Voices, which promote the partnership of families, professionals and advocates for the involvement of families as valued decision makers in their children's lives.
Family to Family Health Information Center
Family to Family Health Information Centers (F2F HICs) assist families of children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) and the professionals who serve them.
Who are these children with special health care needs? They are children and youth who have - or are at increased risk for - a chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional condition and who also require health and related services of a type or amount beyond that required by children generally.
The National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs 2005-2006 shows that 13.9 percent of U.S. children have special health care needs and 21.8 percent of households with children include at least one child with a special health care need. The survey estimates that there are 23,644 children and youth with special health care needs in South Dakota.
Because the health care needs of CYSHCN may be chronic and complex, parents and caregivers often struggle to find the resources and services their children need. F2F HICs are in a unique position to help families because they are typically run by parents of CYSHCN themselves, and as parents, they have traveled through the maze of services and programs designed to help.