The Western Concept

Minot, ND, May 1, 2008. Rural North Dakota (ND) families that have children with special health care needs (CSHCN) and providers will soon be able to access a new support network in ND. The North Dakota Center for Persons with Disabilities (NDCPD) received a 3-year grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to develop a self-sustaining network that will achieve outcomes in collaboration, training, system navigation, leadership and sustainability to strengthen its capacity to help rural families.

NDCPD will partner with Family Voices of ND, the ND Center for Rural Health, and several other family support organizations to develop this recently formed rural health network. The Rural Health Network for Family Support (RHNFS) will assist rural ND families and providers to improve the health and well being of children with special health care needs through enhanced family support services.

The network will serve families whose children “have, or are at increased risk for, chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional conditions and who also require health and related services of a type or amount beyond that required by children generally” (Maternal Child Health Bureau, 1998).

“This grant will provide the resources for participating agencies to come together and create something that is difficult for any one organization to achieve alone,” said Cathy Haarstad, the project director. “Network activities will benefit not only families and providers but participating network agencies as well.”

The RHNFS is in the formative stage of network development. The RHNFS was formed in 2007 when the North Dakota Family Support Coalition planning grant project was funded. Project personnel focused on rural families with children with CSHCN who may have limited or no access to necessary specialized supports for ongoing health care. Over the past year the RHNFS has completed five regional and statewide focus groups and developed a preliminary strategic plan to guide formation of the network. Leadership has been able to overcome several significant trust crises and forge a positive working relationship that can serve as a model for other partners. The result of this effort has been that several additional agencies have signed Memorandum of Agreements to join the network.

The goals of the RHNFS are to: 1) Operate a rural health network, 2) Increase collaboration to enhance family support, and 3) Secure the sustainability of the network. The project will support development of a new non-profit organization and board that will direct the network’s efforts.

Objectives for network implementation address: developing a board structure, designing strategic and business plans, recruiting membership, and evaluation. Objectives for collaboration target development of joint training programs, planning for creation of a universal application, implementation of rural leadership development models, and creation of an educational policy platform for system change. Objectives for sustainability address implementation of a sustainability plan for the network and identifying collaborative services that support efficiencies in health service delivery. The project’s evaluation objectives address measurement of health and collaboration outcomes.