Children With Special Health Needs (CSHN)
Introduction
We provide a large selection of services to children who have complex health conditions and to their families. By “children” we mean Vermont residents, birth to age 21. A child’s eligibility for a specific program may depend upon a number of factors.
Families are their children’s best caregivers, advocates and decision-makers. We work to provide information, medical services, care coordination and resources to help families support their children’s well being, growth and development.
Also, we work very hard to coordinate our efforts with the good work done by children’s primary care physicians. With the family’s permission, we stay in close touch.
If you have any questions at all, please contact us. We will do our best to answer your questions or connect you with someone else who can.
Stephen Brooks
Administrator
Community Connections
CSHN works very closely with Parent to Parent of Vermont to help match parents of children with special health needs to other experienced, trained, volunteer Supporting Parents throughout Vermont and to encourage other mutual parent support activities.
Families with questions about their child’s special education needs are urged to go to the Vermont Parent Information Center to find helpful information and additional useful links.
We find the web site for Family Village to be very informative and helpful as well.
CSHN also collaborates with the Family, Infant and Toddler Program of Vermont to provide services that support growth and development of children from birth to age three.
CSHN is a partner with the University of Vermont’s advanced training program for health care professionals, Vermont Interdisciplinary Leadership Education for Health Professionals (ILEHP). This program is designed to help health care professionals become leaders in the delivery of family centered, culturally competent care to children who have special health care needs. Families may find this link to their home page informative and helpful.
The Traumatic Brain Injury Medicaid Waiver Program is a short-term rehabilitation program developed to assist individuals in obtaining their optimal level of functioning, and to successfully resume living and working in their own home community among family, friends, and neighbors. This program has also successfully diverted and/or returned Vermonters from placement in out-of-state facilities and is funded by federal and state dollars.
Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports is a year round program offering theraputic and adaptive sports, recreational programs and activities around the state for individuals with a disability. They offer skiing, snowboarding, sailing, canoeing, kayaking, cycling, horseback riding, and lots of other fun and healthy experiences. Visit the website or call 802-786-4991 for more information.
Several regional transportation agencies around the state coordinate transportation (including reimbursement of certain qualifying out-of-pocket costs) for medically necessary travel for people who are Medicaid eligible. Many CSHN families rely on this to cover the cost of travel to out-of-state medical facilities.