DSCC Fact Sheets Resources
Family Matters Parent Training & Information Center
Family Matters Parent Training and Information Center (Family Matters PTIC) empowers parents and professionals to achieve the strongest possible outcomes and enhance the quality of life for children and young adults with disabilities. Family Matters PTIC offers coaching, referral, parent-to-parent support, Educational Surrogate Parent training and more.
Family Matters PTIC services and programs include:
- A monthly event calendar highlighting webinars and training opportunities
- Self-Advocacy resources
- Videos
- Educational coaching and support for families and self-advocates
Family Resource Center on Disabilities (FRCD)
The Family Resource Center on Disabilities (FRCD) serves Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties. The FRCD can help you learn about your rights and responsibilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), make informed decisions about your child’s individualized education program (IEP), obtain appropriate services for your child, communicate more effectively with school professionals and more.
You can contact the FRCD at (312) 939-3513 or info@frcd.org.
Family Voices “My Language, My Care” Language Access Rights and Services Course
Family Voices’ “My Language, My Care” is a free online, plain language course to help increase awareness, understanding and use of language access rights and services for families whose preferred language is not English. The course is available in English, Spanish, Chinese and American Sign Language.
Family Voices’ My Language, My Care course will provide:
- An understanding of their rights under the law
- Information about interpreter confidentiality
- Tools to advocate for high-quality language access services in the healthcare setting
- A certificate of completion after finishing all six modules of the training course
- Access to a free toolkit with information from the course in English, Spanish and Chinese
Family Voices of Illinois & F2F Health Information Center
The Arc of Illinois Family to Family Health Information Center is a free service for families of children and youth with special needs. The Center is a collaborative project with Family Voices of Illinois and provides families tools to make informed decisions, advocates for improved public and private policies, builds partnerships among professionals and families, and serves as a trusted resource on health care.
Family Voices Telehealth Toolkit, Tips and New Telemedicine Family Resource Center
Family-centered telehealth can help children and youth with special healthcare needs and families access health care, improve their experience with health care, reduce stress, improve communication between all team members and across systems, and improve quality of life and well-being. Family Voices features extensive resources to help families and individuals with disabilities better understand, access, prepare for and navigate telehealth appointments.
These resources are in Spanish and English.
“Before, During, and After” is a two-part toolkit providing a checklist and worksheet to help prepare for telehealth visits, note questions or key information during a visit, and provide guidance and clear follow-up steps for each appointment.
Fathering a Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing Child: An Onboarding Checklist for Dads
The Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Parent to Parent Committee developed a checklist written by fathers of children who are deaf or hard of hearing(D/HH) for dads or any person who feels that they fulfill this role in a child’s life.
“Fathering a Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing Child: An Onboarding Checklist for Dads” provides information and action steps to support and encourage fathers to take an active role in every aspect of their child’s life from the start. The guide shares information from a dad’s perspective on topics including:
- The ” new dad” learning curve
- Language and communication
- School and legal rights
- Well-being
FDA Information: At-Home COVID-19 Diagnostic Tests
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) provides general information about at-home over the counter (OTC) COVID-19 diagnostic tests. Individuals can use these FDA-authorized tests at home to self-test for COVID.
This site also provides information about:
- Who can use the FDA-authorized tests
- Test expiration dates
- Other details to decide what test is right for you
This FDA-Approved Drugs alphabetical listing covers the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) drug approvals. You can search by drug name, active ingredient or application number.
Feeding Tube Information from Lurie Children’s Hospital
Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago provides this video on “The Basics of Caring for a Child With Feeding Tubes.” Lurie also provides the parent guide, “Supporting Nutrition: Understanding Tube Feeding.” The reference guide includes personal stories and information on:
- Administering feedings through the feeding tube
- Changing the dressings and cleaning around the tube
- Problems that may occur with the gastrostomy tube or the insertion site
Lurie’s website also offers tube-feeding resources for children and adults with cystic fibrosis and an overview of the types of feeding tubes for children.
Please note this information is not a substitute for the medical care and advice of your physician. There may be individual circumstances in your child’s healthcare that cause a variation in treatment.
Together, Fifth Street Renaissance/Springfield AIDS Resource Association (SARA Center) in Springfield assists individuals and families in difficult situations in reclaiming their self-sufficiency and well-being. It provides resources, transitional housing, opportunities to develop job skills and education, and help in securing employment. The organization also helps individuals diagnosed with HIV/AIDS find affordable housing, medical assistance and counseling.
Fifth Street Renaissance/SARA Center also works to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDs through education, awareness and prevention.