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	National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health


Program Home GUCCHD Home Cultural and Linguistic Competence Early Childhood Mental Health in a System of Care Evidence-Based Practices, Evaluation, and Management Information Systems Leadership and Prepared Workforce Making Services and Systems Work for Children and Families Products & Publications Contact Us Especially for Families Key Presentations Online Resources TA Center Activities	Welcome to Communities Can! Communities Can! Highlights Communities Can! is a network of communities committed to making sure that all children and families (including those with or at risk for disabilities) have the services and supports they need to develop, flourish and be valued members of the community and that those services are family-centered and culturally competent. Communities Can! members make it the business of the whole community--not the worry of individual families--to find, provide, organize and fund services needed by children and families. Communities Can! members work toward having four key components to their services and supports in the community: A way for the families to find the services and for the community to find the families who need services. A way to ensure that the services families need exist for the community and families can easily and comfortably use them. A way to help families coordinate services and for the community to coordinate its efforts. A way to support families and to give them a say in how the services and supports work. What Does Communities Can! Do? At no cost, it supports communities by providing: links to other communities to learn from their experiences information about how to better serve and support all families opportunities to develop new skills needed to successfully serve all children and families a voice in policy decisions a process that works with local government and national organizations to recognize and publicize the achievements of members In 1997, the Federal Interagency Coordinating Council (FICC) for early intervention endorsed Communities Can! The FICC serves as the mechanism for Federal agencies with common programmatic goals to facilitate coordination of resources and to model interagency coordination at the federal level. Communities Can! works with the FICC through its Services Integration Subcommittee. Communities Connection Newsletter The Communities Connection newsletter is a membership service of Communities Can! It is published here on our Web site and a table of contents is distributed through a listserv that is open to all. The Communities Connection brings together families, businesses, service providers, government agencies, and community leaders to plan services and supports for children and families, especially children with disabilities and special needs. Who Can Join? Community Groups (councils, task forces, committees, interagency groups, etc.) developing a comprehensive, culturally competent, family-centered, integrated way to provide services and supports for all children and families in their communities. Suggested members of your community effort are: consumers, local agencies, programs, providers (public or private), businesses, and local government officials. Community members will be eligible for exemplary community recognition awards. Individuals who are interested in supporting and encouraging communities to serve all families and children, including those with or at risk for disabilities, may join. All individual members are encouraged to develop skills to make their communities successful examples of Communities Can! How To Join There is no cost to join, simply contact: Membership Coordinator at 202/687-5095.