Independent Perspective 1741 with guest April Fearby about the new service for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs.

Host:  Welcome to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of Western New York Independent Living (WNYIL). Our guest today is April Fearby, Program Specialist for the CYSHCN program at Independent Living of the Genesee Region (ILGR) and I'm your host Ernie Churchwell. Welcome to the program April.

Guest:  Hi, I’m happy to be here.

Host:  And we're delighted to have you. We're especially pleased because great many of our programs talk about changes in existing programs. For instance, your boss Rae Frank recently talked about an expansion in your Loan Closet there, but you've got a program that's brand new to ILGR, the CYSHCN Program. If you could tell us what that stands for?

Guest:  Absolutely. So, it's Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs, CYSHCN.

Host:  Oh, excuse me, CN, sorry about that. Great. Well, that sounds exciting. Just what will it do for people? And who does it serve?

Guest:  Yes, absolutely. So, we serve any children from birth to 21 years old with any special health care needs, whether it be supporting you in an educational environment, or a health care setting. We help get the programs to support critical pathways for providers and help facilitate access to needed home and community-based supports. So, we're hoping to streamline the process.

Host:  And although this is the first time that ILGR has done this program, I gather that it has been done elsewhere in the community, but without the independent perspective, that is the independent living perspective, I should say. Making the consumer or the parent or guardian be the first person to make the decision. How will that affect what you do?

Guest:  You know, I hope to empower families and really bring the children and the families together to take control of their own life. Just like the independent perspective, it's a person driven approach. And, you know, you tell me what your needs are and we work through that together to figure out how you can support yourself and the answers and I will be an asset along the way to assist anywhere I can.

Host:  Alright, and of course you have the support of your various colleagues there at ILGR who have their own lines of specialty. And are there particular requirements for someone to participate in the CYSHCN program?

Guest:  Nope. Just the having a disability or an identified disability like the rest of our programs, which I am super excited to work with all of our colleagues to empower our families. That's something I take very seriously is empowerment. So, I'll be looking forward to serving all those families.

Host:  Alright, is there a particular process that one goes through to apply to the program?

Guest:  Sure, just like any of our other programs you can reach out to any of our facilities. I'm here in the Batavia office, I can offer my phone number, it's 585-815-8501 extension 401. But anyone that you talk to you here we'll put you in the right direction.

Host:  And since you've only been on the team roughly a month, I can't expect you to comment on your track record so far, but have I heard that there are some people already trying to get in?

Guest:  Yes, we already have at least one person that we're in process of getting enrolled. We are very new so it's going to take a little bit of time and finessing to get everything in order. But very shortly we'll be ready to go.

Host:  Well, we need things like this radio show to put out the word to the public, that it is there and available for anyone who wants to. And because some people might not have had their pencils at the ready when you mentioned it previously, could we ask you to repeat the phone number to get more information?

Guest:  Absolutely. It is 585-815-8501 and my personal extension is 401.

Host:  Terrific. Well, we're excited that you're going to be offering this new program and expanding our services in an entirely new direction. And we're very glad that you could be with us today.

Guest:  I am happy to be here. Thank you so much.

Host:  It's been our pleasure. You've been listening to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of WNYIL. Our guest today was April Fearby, the Program Specialist with a CYSHCN program and I've been your host Ernie Churchwell