 My name is Mariah Riggs. Welcome to On the Waterfront. Today I'm excited to have Jackie Kelleher, who is the executive director of Vermont Family Network on my show. Hi, Jackie. Mariah, hi. Good to be here. Thank you for coming. Thanks. So let's get right into it. I kind of wanna, I know that you just started, just full disclosure. Jackie just stepped into a role of Vermont Family Network, which is very exciting. We're so excited to have her there. And I wanted to just kind of fill everybody in. So what is your background before you came? Sure, yes, it's very exciting to be at Vermont Family Network. It's a dream come true. Being able to work with children and families that are impacted by disability and or special health care needs. It's like the end of my journey in education but yet the beginning of the last chapter. I keep saying the end of my journey, but that's gonna be another 20 years I still have student loans. For sure, so my background is I've been a teacher, an administrator, a professor, evaluator. Most recently I was the state director of special education for the agency of education where I got to spread peace, love and compliance throughout the land in that role. Okay, thank you. In all of those roles though, all of them. My advocacy has about family, family empowerment, family understanding of rights and responsibilities, engaging families in the education and the healthcare system. So although primarily my work has been in educational psychology and special education in particular, this brings together everything I've been doing the past 25 years to a point of being to really help lead an organization that's committed to family empowerment. The other important role that I've had that is the most important role and that is being a mom for now adult children with disabilities and special health needs. Oh, I didn't know that. So I have full on experience of the road to IEP navigation 504 and what families go through in raising children with complex needs and ensuring that they're getting what they need to be able to live a meaningful, independent life. And full disclosure, I don't know how many of you out there actually know this, is I have a 18 year old son who has autism. So I'm very familiar with the journey that Jackie was just talking about. And I think for families in particular, it's a very convoluted system. And it takes a lot of know-how and a lot of elbow grease. And the inner workings can get caught up for people. Somebody once told me, I think when Rowan was much younger that you kind of need a master's in IEP management as a parent sometimes just to understand the needs and the resources available to your child to be able to advocate for your child appropriately within the systems in place across Vermont. And so it's really wonderful. I didn't realize that you also had a personal component. Absolutely. Mariah, my identical twins who are now 25 have autism spectrum disorder. Actually, they're like mom, we are autistic. They're very much identity first language individuals. And absolutely. I mean, it doesn't even matter what background you really have when you are that parent, when you're that family member, when you're navigating the acronyms alone in the systems and don't necessarily have that. I mean, did you get that guide when you had your child? Congratulations, you're a mom of a child with autism that had the step-by-step roadmap? I didn't. I did, I had Ernestine Abel, he used to work at a parent for parent, parent to parent who helped me out. But actually, Rowan was born in Austin, Texas. So we weren't here, we ended up moving back. I'm actually from, I'm from Vermont. So I moved back here after Rowan was diagnosed at two and a half. Which we fought for a diagnosis in Texas, it's very, very different. Very different. Very different than Vermont. TEA, yes. We are not gonna get into that. Right. So that's really interesting. I didn't realize that you also had the family component, which I think is so crucial to the work that Vermont Family Network does. And so I think that leads me into my next question. Jackie, for our audience who might not be aware of Vermont Family Network, what does the work for Vermont Family Network does? And how would you say that to the layperson who's never heard of the organization? Sure, and I'll just pick up on my story to lead into that. And that is that when my children were small, we didn't have a VFN. And I was out of state also at the time. I was in Connecticut, another community. And now that I look at all that Vermont Family Network has to offer, and I'm in disbelief on a daily basis of how much that we do. And how much my family would have benefited from connecting with that organization early and often. Even my family members who have reviewed all the things that we did, we couldn't benefited from the SIM shops, the workshops that we do for the siblings of kids with disabilities and some of the other components. My mission with coming to VFN was to make sure that every family in Vermont knows that we exist. That regardless of your zip code, that you have access to the high quality services and supports and connections and mentoring and flexible funding streams. All these things that I can get into in greater detail, but that we're not just located in the Burlington area. We're a statewide organization. We're the federally designated a parent training and information center. So just a point in FYI is that every state is required to have a parent training and information center under federal law. This is part of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that for, this is in particular for special education, that there is a PTIC that's there for families, that's there for children, but also for professionals. And I don't think people know about us in that context as well, is that part of our obligation is to make sure we're also supporting those that are working in schools too. Well, that's interesting. And I don't know if people are really aware of that, which is a real thing. So it's good to know about Vermont Family Network and another quick thought too, I were talking about Vermont Family Network because it has gone through several iterations over the last 20 years. So to kind of summarize to the historical components of Vermont Family Network, how it started again, me going back 18 years to parent to parent. So how did it, because some of you might actually know it as a different organization because it has had sort of an evolution. Sure, yeah. And it was the parent to parent organization prior to that and started by a group of families who are very passionate about making sure that there was support available. But it's grown into to VFN over the past, it was say a decade or so. Yeah, a decade or so that it emerged into VFN. And it also expanded beyond just the educational perspective so that it now includes that healthcare needs, complex health needs of individuals. So it's expanded over time based on needs, based on the number of nature of calls that were coming in that fortunately were being supported by donors and other organizations, grants and contracts that would come in from agencies that needed help being able to assist people right and well. Over time too, Vermont Family Network, the staff that have been near, some of them have been there the 20 years through the whole evolution of VFN. A majority of our staff are parents or grandparents or guardians of children and youth or now adult children with disabilities or special healthcare needs. So they get it. They absolutely understand, this is an organization when you get that first clinical diagnosis or educational classification in your school system and you don't know where to start. You know, we are the phone call, the email, the virtual meeting that you can just like fall into somebody's virtual arms and just say, I don't even know where to start. So I think that's a good question too is, so if somebody's watching this and you know somebody, a family member or somebody in your own family or a friend who might have a child who could benefit from the work of Vermont Family Network, how would that person reach out to you? Sure. So we have our information on our website that has a phone number that you can call, an email that you can reach out to. You'll most likely encounter Dominique at the, who's the voice who takes a little bit of information about what you're specifically looking for and she matches you with a staff member. And from there, they get to know you, they get to find out what your specific needs are and starts doing some wraparound of services and supports that meet your needs. And there's nothing formulaic. It's all individualized for that particular family's needs. So it's contacting us through our helpline, the phone number or an email connection. And even if you're not sure if you need VFN, even if you're just, you suspect that something might be going on, but you're not sure. Please, please give us a call or an email. And that's what we're here for, is to help navigate educational system, to help navigate mental health systems, Medicaid, healthcare systems, all the paperwork that goes on everything that you could be really overwhelmed and stressed by. We've been through it, we've helped thousands of others go through it and we can help you too. Which is wonderful. I mean, it's such an incredible resource. And sometimes, and I always, I tell us to other family people who might have questions about their own children. Yeah. But you'd be surprised if you feel something as a parent or you have a gut response or you think there might be something going on with a child that you know, it doesn't hurt to find out if something actually is happening with a young toddler. Yes. Or a child who might not be reaching certain milestones. As a parent, you are the first line and you will probably know faster than anyone, including your doctor who you only see maybe every couple of months. And it's really important to be that advocate for your child and Vermont Family Network can get you the help that you need to see if there is something actually happening with your child. And I can't say enough good things about their outreach and their engagement with local communities and families, assisting them sometimes through some of the hardest periods of a parent's life. Thank you. Yes, yes. It's a real thing. It is and the staff are so informed on the current literature, the current rules and regulations and policies and most they are always on top of the resources that are out there that are available to help meet your needs. And this is a wide range of whether you need to learn how to be a partner with your individualized education program team, the IEP team. You can range from that piece to I'm struggling to find gas money to get my children to Boston Children's Medical. Do you have any ideas about that? If parents are looking for a mentor, we have connections with other parents either within our state who've gone through a training or if you have a real specific need that Vermont doesn't have in terms of like the nature of the disability or healthcare need, we have our network expands across the country and we can find someone who gets it, who understands that you can have in your life that just serves in that supportive role in addition to our staff. And you're not alone. I mean, there's a lot to be said about that. And the resources are there too. I think that's the other big component. We do live in a state that has remarkable resources for parents and one of the ways to facilitate those resources is by going to Vermont Family Network and contacting them. So another quick thought, I wanted to talk about the different types of family support that Vermont Family Networks offers to the community. Great. We have a couple of different arms or units or branches, like you looked at our organizational chart. So we've been talking about the family support group which is the one they specialize in education, mental health and healthcare needs. And that group is not only helping and supporting parents but are doing some advocacy around the state, around issues pertaining to education, mental health and healthcare needs. You're doing the parent match. We also do, we have a faculty program where our parents who have utilized our service want to give back in some way. And so they become trained to go work with the healthcare community. So some of our pediatricians who are training on their medical license will get to work with family faculty to really understand and get the perspective of what families are going through as they are navigating this often complex world of raising a child with these unique differences. So that's part of our family supports. I also mentioned our Sib shops which are the workshops that we have for the siblings that are really thoughtful monthly meetings where kids are engaged in a fun activity but it has a reflective component to it. And they can have some takeaways to bring back to their families as they, siblings, we can't forget about the siblings. You know, as a mom who had kids with much more complex needs, I always felt so bad for those missed ballet performances or recitals or when there was a meltdown that just didn't happen. Like, so we also have that type of sibling support that's available as well. You know, so family supports and there's more on our website to unpack and go through the flexible funding is really neat. We get things like the Doug Flutigrant where we're able to disseminate to families to help them defray costs of summer camp or other inclusive opportunities in the summer. And a majority of all of our programs and services are no cost and not an income eligibility guideline. A lot of people ask that. Are you only working with a certain group? No, all means all, all of our families. So that's family support. We also have our Puppets in Education program. Oh, I'm glad you're here. Okay, three months ago, I went puppets. Puppets, we're working with puppets. Wow. It was, oh, it is absolutely in line with the Vermont Family Network mission. These puppeteers, these professionals are working with evidence-based social-emotional learning, health and safety curricula that are vetted by experts. They go out to, they reach seven to 10,000 children each year. Wow. Across our state, a little bit into New York. They do either puppet shows that are developmentally appropriate. So they go, they do five shows a day. They differentiate from kindergarten to fifth grade to sixth and seventh grade workshop models on topics like kindness, on topics like anxiety and stress and worry and friendships. And there's even a really sensitive, powerful one I was able to see on sexual abuse and awareness. And the amount of, the type of feedback because we've got, we are very data rich also as an organization, the amount of qualitative data that we have from feedback that we've received or how many kids were helped because teachers and faculty and school nurses, school counselors were made to wear a particular situations. Bullying and harassment is another topic that we cover. It's just an amazing way for arts engagement to be a true platform for engaging all kids. And so that's part of what puppets does. They also do, as I said, workshops with the older children as well. And they're just, they're phenomenal and we're very proud of the impact they've been able to have. And then the other arm that we do, well, we have like a policy and advocacy. And policy and advocacy, I know that can be a little touchy subject, but our aim is to identify and work with individuals with disabilities or the parents and families and to empower them to tell their stories and to consider doing their own advocacy across the state or to sit on school boards or to sit on statewide committees and task forces. And these parents are experts on their kids, right? I mean, they're experts on their story and situation. And these are the folks who are going to inform practice and truly make Vermont supportive communities for all, including those with disabilities. So that policy and advocacy, we do that training. We have a Vermont leadership series where they get the base training. Then we have like a monthly or bimonthly networking session where we talk about the issues that are up. So how would somebody reach out if they wanted to get more involved in policy and advocacy? With anything that I'm talking about, you can go right away to our hotline and Dominique will get you connected with that person. And if you are, all of this information is on our website. So if you were interested in the Vermont leadership training or in the policy and advocacy networking that we are doing, just our first, our phone call or an email will get you connected to whatever area is gonna meet your needs. And that also gets me to another big thing that I've noticed of Vermont Family Network right now is really working as far as outreach. One of the things you talked about at the beginning is one of the biggest missions right now in Vermont Family Network because it's unfortunately due to the way the nature of our state is that things in time tend to be bottlenecked in Chittenden County. And they don't get out to other parts of the state. And so a big imperative of a Vermont Family Network is trying to get out to other parts of the state, trying to get down to Brattleboro and Bennington and up to Newport, you know, where, you know, sometimes people in the state don't get there very often because it's a long way away. And so I think that's really a big part of the engagement is trying to become more of a statewide organization and drawing in on those resources as parents. And so that's another thing too is if anybody knows somebody outside, because Chittenden County also too has a much more, has a much stronger network and structure of support for parents and people with special health needs. And once you kind of get out of the Chittenden Corridor, some of those resources dwindle significantly. Yes, yes. And they're the places of most need across the state. Yes. So that's a big part of the outreach that VFN is doing. I mean, what is the plan for engaging with some of those rural communities? And I do wanna share too, even though, and thank you for, that is a myth that we're trying to debunk is that we're like specific to Chittenden County, which no, thank you for clarifying that. And our staff, we've got staff located around the state. They're called field staff. So they're still part of our family support group, but they're located in areas that where they know the specific resources in that area, they know, even like therapists that are available, when I'm looking at six month waiting lists or so, and I've got a colleague that's like, nope, try right here, they're able to really give timely, accurate and relevant information in those particular areas. What we're doing, myself and other senior leadership, our new communications coordinator, we're contacting social justice organizations, other organizations that might not know about us across the state in getting some time to explain what we do and the reaction is always, and this is free. This is a free, like, no, no, no, no, no, but not believing it, absolutely. Like, what's the catch? What's the deal? What membership do I have to purchase? It's like, no. So we're also doing, you know, letter writing, we're trying to get different op-ed articles in the media in every corner of the state. So our outreach plan has just been just going to the mat and identifying who could really benefit moving from there. And then, again, being in the areas of the most rural communities that particularly a spotlight was shown in that during the pandemic, the disparities that were there, we're being very intentional about reaching out to those that are working with those kids on a regular basis. So for example, right now we're working with the School Nurse Association from across the state, Maternal and Child Health, school liaisons, those that have a statewide reach, making sure that our information is understood, it's messaged in a way that families understand, it has representative imagery, so it's inclusive of all, because even the definition of family is different from family to family, so. It's true, and those are the people that might catch it too. Yes, yes. You know, nurses, especially school nurses are on the front line, and they might notice things before even sometimes parents, because parents don't know what to look for. Yes, yes. And that's another big thing is trying to educate parents around what they should be looking for with their children. And then trying to bridge the gap between understanding and resources. Another thing I wanted to quickly talk about too, which I think is really valuable that I've learned, is how important early intervention is. And I don't think a lot of people fully understand that. So I thought if you could speak a little bit about the importance of early intervention on outcomes and long-term effectiveness of treatment and education for individuals. Yes, again, another reason why, even if you suspect and need someone to talk through what you're seeing, what you're hearing, what you're sensing in your child, is that the earlier that your child can be a part of supports and services that use evidence-based practices to intervene around the area of concern, the greater the outcome of student success ultimately. With that said too, it's not to panic if your child is older and you're suspecting something, early intervention can be matched with whatever developmental trajectory your child is on or in at that moment. But that's part of the education that we do too, is that when families are discussing with their health, their health community partners, their health plans, or their education systems, is that we help navigate what is an evidence-based practice? What does an intervention look like? What should I be asking for or considering given this disability or giving this healthcare need? Because there's a lot of information out there, it's information overload. So we like to think that we are that resource that can help you navigate through that complex world of what does an intervention look like? Again, the sea of acronyms and the names that come with some of those interventions. But the earlier you can intervene, the more likely a successful outcome. And that successful outcome is just as individualized as the child. And that's been shown repeatedly through research and studies. It's pretty evidence-based at this point. That the earlier you get in there with a child and you engage with them appropriately, based on their needs, the better the outcomes are long-term. Sure, sure. It's real. So again, you know, if you're out there and you think that, make sure to reach out to Vermont Family Network. They're an incredible resource. One of my favorite things about Vermont Family Network is that as an organization, a lot of the places where special health need groups come from is a place of where the funding is. That it's based on the grants available or the funding, you know, from, but Vermont Family Network is unique into the fact that it's sort of grassroots. It comes from the parents and it comes from the people who are actually needing and participating in the services, as opposed to coming from like what the state is allocating. Which I think is one of the things that makes Vermont Family Network particularly unique as an organization and particularly special as an organization. Because families are at the forefront. They're not just people, you know, they're not just part of the people who are being served. They're actually part of the engaged DNA of the actual organization. And so that's another thing is I think if you are a parent, please reach out. Try to engage with Vermont Family Network because it is about you and your family. Yeah, I love that. Even our board constitution with Vermont Family Network, 51%, it needs to be comprised of parents and families of those with disabilities or special health needs or individuals themselves. So even that makes a big difference when you've got that type of advisement happening as we continue to build and grow and also sustain what works. Yeah, and that's why Vermont Family Network works is because it's built by the parents who are using the services. It's not a state organization that just kind of has a bunch of policy people telling people what they think they need. And that's why it's such a beautiful organization. One quick thing I wanted to cover is if we do have some people who have been watching this and would like to give to Vermont Family Network, how can they give to Vermont Family Network? You can give in a variety of ways. You know, certainly financial contributions are always appreciated so we can continue to have our staff right sized. The number of nature of the volume of calls, particularly from the pandemic, particularly in the past six months, you know, have risen. So we're always looking to build staff capacity, high quality staff who get, you know, trained up, you know, right and well to meet the needs. So, you know, finance support, you know, we have donation opportunities through our website. You can connect through our office again to talk to our development. We do have a development manager where you can even determine where you would want your dollars to go. Either restrictive funds or I like puppets. Whatever, you know, you choose to invest in. But we're always looking for volunteers and interns to be able to help us do some of those outreach efforts that, you know, to help us with some of our social media communication needs or, you know, even help us look for grants that are a good fit for the organization. Cause as you said, we don't just grab dollars for the sake of grabbing dollars. It's got to fit with being mission specific and to grow the good things that we're currently doing. So volunteer opportunities, serving on the board is another option. And then we definitely appreciate donor and fiscal resources very much. Yeah, I can't say enough about what Vermont Family Network does, especially for underserved communities in Vermont. And again, it is free of charge. They help families and they also help families advocate for themselves, which is such an important part of how it works as a parent with a child with special health needs. And so anything you can do to support Vermont Family Network, you can reach out to them directly. It's www.vermontfamilyorg. And please log in there. All the information that has been supplied during the show is also on the website. Anything else you would like to tell our viewers? We're about to wrap up. Yeah, I appreciate the opportunity. I know Vermont is small, but we have need. You know, we have just students with disabilities alone in our schools. We have over 15,000 students. We are the highest in the nation of students who are classified with emotional disturbance, which has to do with anxiety and depression. And that's a fact from the Office of Special Ed Programs. So we have tremendous need. And so whether you are thinking about supporting or accessing our service, we're here with that skill set and that expertise. And we're positioning ourselves to be able to work with all of the families who will reach out. And then the last plug is for parent training and counseling as a related service. That's the most underutilized law in special education. That parents get the training on everything from child development to how to be an effective IEP partner. That is in the law. It gets written into the IEP, must happen. We are that training site for parents because people will say, well, great, I get training, but where do I go? That's another call to us and your district can make that call on your behalf. So please, if you know anybody, anybody in your family, have any questions, comments, anything, go to www.vermontfamilynetworkalloneword.org and check out the wonderful work that they do. Jackie, thank you so much for coming on the show. It's been such a pleasure. My pleasure. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you, everybody. I'll see you right back here next month. Take care.