URMC / Strong Center for Developmental Disabilities / Projects and Initiatives / Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs

Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs

This project is a collaboarative effort between The Strong Center for Developmental Disabilities and 28 Local County Health Departments across NYS

Our Mission

To positively impact the lives of Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN) and their families by assisting Local Health Departments (LHDs) in providing needed and appropriate services.

Strong Center for Developmental Disabilities will:

Engage families and youth in meaningful conversations with our family specialists
Provide training and technical assistance to local health departments
Collect regional resources to create a resource directory for families and youth impacted by special health care needs.

We will we do this by:

Collecting information on regional resources for your county***
Conducting needs assessments for families and LHD's
Providing technical assistance to LHD's
Collecting & developing educational print materials for providers & caregivers
Developing Public Service Announcements & webinars
Developing video vignettes about important health related topics

Who will we serve?

Families of children and young adults ages 0-21 years old with special health care need(s).

What is considered a special health care need?

More information on what is considered a special health care need.

Next Steps

If you would like to participate in one of our family discussions complete our Intake Survey
***Make a referral for our resource directory
For more information about this program contact Sabrina Smith, Project Manager

Project Webinars

Supporting Families of CYSHCN during COVID-19!
Featured organization: INCLUDEnyc

Family-Professional Partnerships!
Featured organization: Parent to Parent of New York State (PTP NYS)

Supporting Families with Mental Health Needs during COVID-19!
Featured organization: National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of New York State (NYS)

Supporting Youth through Health Care, Recreation, and Employment Transitions

Featured organizations: Healthy Transitions NY and Project SEARCH

Advocacy Webinar: Supporting parents/caregivers of Youth with Special Health Care Needs

LHD Networking Meeting

CYSHCN Clips Newsletter

CYSHCN Clips! A Bi-Weekly Newsletter for the Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN) Program at New York State Local Health Departments