Guest Speakers:   

• Susan Agrawal, Director of Family-to-Family Health Information Center, The Arc of Illinois 
• Stephanie Leach, Associate Director of Systems of Care, University of Illinois Chicago’s Division of Specialized Care for Children (DSCC) 
• Courtney Kerfoot, Integrated Program Support Specialist, University of Illinois Chicago’s DSCC 
• Pamela Winsel, Senior Public Service Administrator, Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) 

Guest Hosts:  

• Ben Kaufman, Associate Director, Workforce Development & Capacity Building, AMCHP 
• Molly Hofmann, Director of Care Coordination, Systems Development, and Education, University of Illinois Chicago’s DSCC 

Snapshot

Our new MCH Bridges podcast episode addresses the critical importance of planning for and responding to the needs of women, children, and families, particularly those requiring complex care, during public health emergencies. The efforts described in this episode reflect the panelists’ personal and professional experiences advocating for and implementing a state-level policy change to do just this. 

Tune in now to this detailed discussion about what it takes to implement a policy change aimed at ensuring that children with the most complex health care needs are less vulnerable to the impact of natural disasters and other emergencies. This example demonstrates how family advocates and staff from multiple state agencies partnered to create an amendment for the Medically Fragile Technology Dependent Medicaid Waiver that enabled critical power generators to be purchased with the use of waiver service funds.

This episode is a part of AMCHP’s Building Resilience from Lived Experience anthology. The story and summary above were collected as part of a project supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number 5 NU38OT000296-05-00, a cooperative agreement between AMCHP and the Center for State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Supports (CSTLTS). The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government.

Related resources:   

• View the full Building Resilience from Lived Experience Series, AMCHP’s Collection of Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Stories  
• Home Generator Information for MFTD Waiver Families (University of Illinois Chicago’s DSCC) 
• Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Checklist for Maternal and Infant Health (AMCHP, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)   
• Prepared4ALL: Whole Community Inclusive Emergency Planning (Association of University Centers on Disabilities)
• Find a Family-to-Family Health Information Center (F2F) or Family Voices Affiliate Organization (FVAO) 
• Parent to Parent USA 

We are where you are! Listen to this and other episodes on www.mchbridges.org, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Overcast. 

Consider completing this short survey to share input and let us know who or what you’d like to hear about in future episodes. If you have any questions or suggestions about the podcast, please contact Nia Sutton (nsutton@amchp.org) and Eden Desta (edesta@amchp.org).