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Children 3 to 18 Years

When your child is under three years of age, a Family Resource Coordinator (FRC) has primary responsibility for helping coordinate your child’s care. Other partners, like the CSHCN Coordinators and Parent to Parent Coordinators can also provide services when your child is very young.

After age three, the responsibility for coordination of services rests primarily with partnerships between your physician, local CSHCN Coordinator, and the schools. . If you have concerns about your child’s development, or have a child that has already been diagnosed with a behavioral, emotional, developmental or physical condition, the Children with Special Health Care Needs Program (CSHCN) can help.

What can we do for you and your family?

CSHCN Coordinators are public health nurses who can:

• Help families access needed services for their child
• Refer families to health insurance programs and information, both private insurance and the state funded Medicaid program
• Help families with one another through parent support organizations
• Help with concerns such as feeding, nutrition, growth, development and behavior
• Provide screening and assessment for your child

Who can get help?

Children birth to 18 years of age who:

• Have, or are at risk of having, a serious physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional condition, and
• Require health and related services of a type and amount beyond what is generally required, and are
• Residents of Washington State

Youth can get helpful information to make the transition to adult health care and families are provided with information about resources for their child.

In addition to assisting families and children with special needs, the CSHCN program works at the state level to:

• Identify and address health system issues that impact this population
• Find ways to improve and enhance system infrastructure and quality
• Evaluate and assess programs and services
• Influence priority setting, planning and policy development
• Support parent organizations in developing and distributing health and resource information to families
• Support community efforts in assuring the health and well-being of children with special health care needs and their families

To find your local CSHCN Coordinator, call the Family Health Hotline at 1-800-322-2588.

Source: “Children with Special Health Care Needs Program,” Washington State Department of Health