Our process:
Every family is unique and the circumstances that bring you to seeking support from the DIY Advocacy Center are often complex and filled with emotion. To get started, we begin with a few questions to gather information and point us to the next step of what it is that may be helpful for you.
Over email or by phone, we will start here:
- Who are the providers currently engaged in service to your child?
- What kind of insurance do you have?
- Where do you live?
- Who else is helping you (who is your support network)?
- Where are you most feeling stuck?
We approach all next steps with the foundational principle that we all have a physical aspect to our health and we all have a mental aspect to our health – we are one complete being. From this perspective, we explore ways in which families can increase self-sufficiency in navigating their child’s health challenges and the dizzying health and education systems.
Areas we may cover include:
- Navigating insurance systems
- Knowledge about levels of care and providers
- Navigating those services (referral processes, wait lists, advocacy, setting expectations of your own role on your child’s care team at various stages of treatment)
- Understanding the purposes of a treatment plan and safety planning as a process
- Child-centered, family-driven care plans – recruiting and mapping out your team
- Accessing emergency services
- Accessing the community-based support community
We know families are capable of driving these processes once they have the knowledge of what is involved and that is why we call our center the D.I.Y.
Having a coach or mentor to share knowledge, experiences, and lessons learned is one way to gain knowledge. If you would like to engage us in that process and we think we can support your process, we can talk about next steps following this initial consultation.
Contact us today to get started.