for Families Living in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana
Multi-State Resources
· Disability.gov – Connecting individuals with disabilities, and their families, to information and opportunities throughout the United States.
· Yellow Pages for Kids – Find special education schools, learning centers, treatment programs, parent groups, respite care, community centers, grassroots organizations, and government programs for children with disabilities.
· Disability Resources – disseminates information about books, pamphlets, magazines, newsletters, videos, databases, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, telephone hotlines and on-line services that provide free, inexpensive or hard-to-find information to help people with disabilities live independently.
Indiana Specific Resources
Kentucky Specific Resources
Ohio Specific Resources
· Medically Based Organizations
o Help Me Grow – HMG helps nurture your child’s health and development for success in life. Help Me Grow is a program for Ohio’s expectant parents, newborns, infants and toddlers that provide health and developmental services so children start school healthy and ready to learn. Help Me Grow provides the building blocks for success for Ohio’s families.
o Ohio Medicade Information – A PDF file that explains what Medicade is and who can apply for benefits.
· Recreation
o Parky’s Farm – Parky's Farm is open daily, dawn to dusk. Pony rides, wagon rides and PlayBarn are open seasonally. Pony rides are suspended if the temperature exceeds 90 degrees. Wagon rides do not operate on smog alert days.
o Preston’s H.O.P.E. – The park was built with many custom-designed elements to accommodate youngsters with mobility issues, vision or hearing impairments. Here are a few examples: The park is wired with sounds (train whistle, flowing water, etc) that can help a sight impaired child navigate. The large windows in the village houses allow parents to use sign language to communicate with hearing impaired children while they play inside. Broad ramps throughout the park let youngsters in wheelchairs get a loftier view of the world. And, the slides have transfer decks so children in wheelchairs can be helped onto the equipment.
· Financial Support
o Building Blocks for Kids – The Building Blocks for Kids (BB4K) mission is to improve the quality of life for children with health-related needs that are unmet through traditional means by offering grants, referrals, and alternative resources. These are needs not being met due to lack of insurance, insurance coverage, government assistance, and/or family resources.
· Miscellaneous Support
o Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) – To help Ohio’s families find solutions to their temporary challenges, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services offers a wide range of assistance.
o Ohio Legal Services for Individuals with Disabilities – The Ohio Legal Rights Service (LRS) is an independent agency of the State of Ohio. LRS is designated under federal law as the system to protect and advocate the rights of people with disabilities and as the Client Assistance Program under the Rehabilitation Act. The mission of LRS is to protect and advocate, in partnership with people with disabilities, for their human, civil and legal rights.
o Ohio SIBS (Special Initiatives by Brothers and Sisters) – offers information and referral resources, support services and advocacy for adult siblings who have a variety of issues and responsibilities regarding their brothers and sisters with disabilities. On their website they offer answers to frequently asked questions, sibling stories, a listing of Ohio support groups and more. Visit their website to learn how you can get involved
o Ohio Coalition for the Education of Children with Disabilities – A statewide, nonprofit organization that serves families of infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities in Ohio, and agencies who provide services to them. OCECD works through the coalition efforts of over 40 parent and professional disability organizations which comprise the Coalition.
o Special Needs Resource Guide (from Cincinnati Children’s) – Assists families in finding and accessing health care, financial resources and community services and supports. Our goal is to reduce hospitalizations, length of stay and emergency department visits.
