Our Mission:
- Expand and strengthen the community of interest
- Replenish leadership by recruiting, training, and mentoring younger parents and siblings.
- Empower families by providing information about services for all age groups
- Connect families with other families
- Empower family advocates
We propose to support our mission and achieve common goals by starting a Mentor/Mentee Program.
Mentees can be people who have children living at home and those who have children living in residences as well as professionals from the field. Mentors should have a deeper understanding of the field and can share that knowledge with those are just learning how the system works.
Mentors and mentees can come from:
- Service Provider Agencies
- National/NY Sibling Leadership Networks
- NYC DOE District 31 and District 75 schools
- Pre-schools, elementary schools and high schools serving children with Developmentally Disabilities
- NYS Partners in Policy graduates
We would like to identify family members to join our Network as mentors and mentees in order to bring a new and stronger voice to the Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) Community.
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE MENTORS
- Commit to the program for a minimum of a year.
- Provide one on one mentoring to the mentee throughout the year
- Accompany the mentee to interagency meetings, public forums, advocacy and lobbying events as well as Network informational sessions on specific issues as much as possible.
- Provide an overview of the history of the field, the current issues, challenges and the role of government
- Foster a relationship that is conducive to open interaction
- Offer counsel, guidance and encouragement
- Be conscious and respectful of cultural and generational differences between myself and my mentee
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE MENTEE
- Commit to the program for a minimum of a year.
- Attend inter-agency meetings, public forums, advocacy and lobbying events as well as well as Network Informational sessions as much as possible
- Learn from the mentors experience and knowledge
- Be a good listener
- Be open to feedback and suggestions
- Initiate independent advocacy opportunities
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions
- Be conscious and respectful of cultural and generational differences between myself and my mentor
I am a Mother of a young child diagnosed with Autism/Intellectual Disability who has been eligible for OPWDD since 2016.
I have not received any services. In short I think that this system is unbelievably and unacceptably bureaucratic. I also think that it is designed, whether purposefully or not, to keep low income and/or families who do not have permanent housing away from accessing services.
I do not understand the purpose of the Medicaid waiver process if all enrollees are being forced to enroll in Medicaid anyway and the criteria for eligibility is solely clinical.
I do not understand why services are constricted to counties or boroughs.
I am seeking advice on how to proceed with OPWDD – I wonder whether OPWDD can offer meaningful services for me. I am curious to know whether my experience is common or uncommon.