Family Support and Advocacy Organizations

WSPEI is all about partnerships. WSPEI helps families and school districts build positive working relationships that lead to shared decision making and children's learning. WSPEI Coordinators are parents of children with disabilities who work for CESAs (Cooperative Educational Service Agencies) through a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI). They assist families with navigating special education and partnering with schools through technical assistance, trainings, and programs such as Parents in Partnership (PIP) and Youth in Partnerships (YiPPE) programs. WSPEI also works directly with schools through trainings, developing family engagement plans, and training district family engagement liaisons to improve family engagement efforts for families of students with IEPs. To find out the contact information for your WSPEI CESA Family Engagement Coordinator for your region you can go to: http://wspei.org/contact/

 

WI FACETS is the federally funded Parent Training and Information Center for Wisconsin. Their mission is to provide and broaden opportunities that enhance the quality of life for children and adults with disabilities and their families, with emphasis on support for underserved families in the community. They provide information on special education and IEPs and referrals to agencies and resources, parent support groups, parent and youth leadership development, and trainings.

(877) 374-0511 or https://wifacets.org/contact-us.

ALAS is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the independence of families of children and youth with diverse abilities in Wisconsin by providing educational workshops, parent support groups, family events, community building activities, and service referrals. To contact Alianza Latina Aplicando Soluciones, view our website https://www.alianzalatinawi.org/ALAS.htm or email us at Alasinc@Alianzalatinawi.org.

 

The Arc promotes and protects the human rights of people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) and actively supports their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes. It provides information and referral services, individual advocacy to address education, employment, health care and other concerns, self-advocacy initiatives, residential support, family support, employment programs, leisure and recreational programs.

The Arc is the largest national community-based organization advocating for and serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. We encompass all ages and more than 100 different diagnoses including autism, Down syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, and various other developmental disabilities. Visit: https://arcwi.org/about/affiliate-chapters/, Call: 608.422.4250, or Email: info@arcwi.org

 

The Autism Society of Greater Wisconsin provides a community for those who care about increasing the quality of life for those affected by autism in our 53 county service area. Founded in 1979, the Autism Society of Greater Wisconsin has been passionately committed to improving the lives of those affected by autism for over 38 years. ASW builds relationships and partnerships with other community agencies with the goal of building autism friendly, inclusive communities across our service area. For more information about regional chapters and statewide information, conferences, information, visit https://www.autismgreaterwi.org/contact/ or call (888) 428-8476 / (920) 558-4602.

 

Autism Society of Southeast Wisconsin’s (ASSEW) mission is to improve the lives of all affected by autism and serve as the primary Autism/Asperger Syndrome PDD resource in Dodge, Jefferson, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Walworth, Washington and Waukesha counties. ASSEW holds several networking, support, and professional development events throughout the year. For more information, visit https://www.assew.org/contact/.

 

The Autism Society of South Central Wisconsin is dedicated to improving the lives of all who are impacted by Autism by providing information, resources and support, while raising awareness and acceptance in our community. Serving the counties of Crawford, Columbia, Dane, Grant, Green, Iowa, Lafayette, Richland, Rock, and Sauk.

 

Wisconsin’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN) has five regional centers to assist families with resources for their children. https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/cyshcn/regionalcenters.htm

Family Voices of Wisconsin is a statewide network of families who have children and youth with special health care needs and/or disabilities and those who work on their behalf. We support families by providing information, training and leadership opportunities so that families can be informed and effective partners in their child's care and in the systems that support them.

https://familyvoiceswi.org/connect/ (608) 220-9598

 

Independent Living Centers

An independent living center (ILC) is a consumer-directed, non-profit organization that provides four core services: peer support, information and referral, independent living skills training, and person and systems advocacy. Supports persons with disabilities from birth to death.

 

Waisman Center for Families
The Waisman Center mission is to advance knowledge of human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases.

Well Badger Resource Center
The Well Badger Resource Center is a health information and referral program operated by the Wisconsin Women’s Health Foundation (WWHF) in partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. They are an information and referral hotline that assists families who have children, age birth to 21, with special needs and their providers. They assist in finding needed programs and services; such as early intervention screenings, financial resources, advocacy, research, respite care, family support, and transition services.