5 Associated Trainings

In spring 2019, project staff partnered with Mothers on the Frontline, an Iowa nonprofit serving mothers of children with serious mental illness, to host a digital storytelling workshop presented by StoryCenter of Berkeley, CA. Funding was secured from the Iowa Developmental Disabilities Council to host a digital storytelling training in June 2020. The training was postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions. To date, four sessions of Digital Storytelling training have been held with 17 stories created. The digital family stories can be viewed on the IFLTI YouTube page. https://www.youtube.com/@iowafamilyleadership

In fall 2019, Iowa Department of Education requested a partnership with IFLTI staff to revise a longstanding parent storytelling training, Parents as Presenters. Renamed Storytelling for Family Leaders, the virtual training launched in 2020. Four sessions have been held with 16 storytellers prepared to share a piece of their family story crafted to create awareness and change in the system of care for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs.

A new webinar series to prepare families to partner with schools and medical providers at the individual level launched in June 2020. This eight-part training, called Navigating Special Needs, was delivered virtually through October of that year. Topics included:

• improving communication skills
• organizing information
• exploring care coordination
• navigating school
• navigating waivers
• finding reliable resources
• finding resilience & hope.

In 2021 a second series was developed, Empowering Family Leaders: Hope for the Future, and offered virtually. Topics included:

• leading with a health equity lens
• cultural stories from the road
• systems thinking
• facilitation tips & tricks
• shared-decision making: families as experts
• elevator speeches for improving advocacy
• resonant leadership: letting your values lead
• family leader panel

And in 2022, IFLTI staff partnered with other staff to provide Transition to Adulthood webinar series. This series offered simultaneous Spanish translation using a channel in Zoom technology.  Topics included:

• living, learning and working
• legal and financial rules of the road (social security and estate planning)
• how to promote self-determination
• guardianship and shared-decision making
• screening of the Intelligent Lives documentary
• youth, young adult and parent panel

Recordings of these webinars can be found at the Child Health Specialty Clinics YouTube page.  https://www.youtube.com/@childhealthspecialtyclinics