The FAMILIES TO THE MAX Pennsylvania Statewide Family Network is comprised of hundreds of dedicated family members, educational professionals, young adults with disabilities, related service providers, and community members. Coordination, oversight, and funding is made possible by a State Personnel Development Grant, awarded to Pennsylvania by the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to the FAMILIES TO THE MAX Parent Partner organizations, the BSE, PaTTAN, PEAL, and HUNE (see below.)
Pennsylvania F2MAX members who attended a two-day event, Better Conversations, with Jim Knight--
author, instructional coach, and researcher (back row, left). Hershey, 2023
Family Leadership
The Network is an organization for families, led by families. As leaders of change in Pennsylvania special education, parents, caregivers, youth, and young adults promote presuming competence of all children with and without disabilities. F2MAX strives to increase awareness.
-
Regional Family Leadership Council (RFLC)
The RFLC is an elected group of ten FAMILIES TO THE MAX family leaders, representing diverse committee members’ interests, age groups, and regions. The Council coordinates the work of the FAMILIES TO THE MAX Committee.
F2MAX Parent Partners
The Parent Partners are a group of federally funded organizations that assist Pennsylvania families in helping their children achieve successful post-school outcomes, with oversight by the BSE (the Pennsylvania Bureau of Special Education) – a division of the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The BSE works collaboratively with the Parent Partners, educators, schools, agencies, and other stakeholders across Pennsylvania to ensure students have access to quality and meaningful education supports, services, and opportunities.
- PaTTAN (The Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network) – an organization that works with the Bureau of Special Education, Pennsylvania Department of Education, to provide professional development and technical assistance targeted to improving student results. PaTTAN also assists families in supporting their children through the education process and navigating the world of special education, providing many resources, trainings, and events to help parents learn about specific disabilities and educational initiatives.
- PEAL Center (Parent Education & Advocacy Leadership) - Pennsylvania’s Parent Training and Information (PTI) center that works with families, youth and young adults with disabilities and special health care needs to help them understand their rights and advocate for themselves. The PEAL Center empowers families and individuals to be included in their home schools and access high quality, coordinated physical and behavioral healthcare. PEAL’s services are provided at no charge to families, as they are funded by private donations and federal, state, and private grants.
- HUNE (Hispanos Unidos para Niños Excepcionales) – a Community Parent Resource Center (CPRC) organization that provides free bilingual English and Spanish training, technical assistance, and individual assistance to families and professionals who work with children and youth with disabilities. This assistance helps parents to participate more effectively with professionals in meeting the educational needs of child and youth (ages 0-26) with disabilities and improve to educational outcomes.
Come join us!
