Mission
Who We Are
We are families supporting families of children with special healthcare needs, chronic illnesses or disabilities.
What We Do
We guide them on their journey to find their voice, community and best outcomes.
In Tennessee
One in five children in Tennessee have a special healthcare need, chronic illness, or disability.
About Family Voices of Tennessee
Family Voices of Tennessee, a program of the Tennessee Disability Coalition, provides emotional and educational support to the families of these children. To reach these families on what can be a lifelong, complex healthcare journey with their child, Family Voices of Tennessee has created a unique network of experienced staff and volunteers who have personal experience navigating the healthcare journey of an individual with a special healthcare need, chronic illness, or disability.
Family Voices serves families across the state of Tennessee and children across all ages and diagnoses.
Family Voices of Tennessee’s network is focused on connecting, training and leading with the families we serve.
We connect these families with each other, with community resources, with experienced parent mentors, with tools to navigate complex systems in healthcare and insurance, and more. FVTN has hundreds of partnerships with local and national organizations, with reciprocal referral relationships and access to much needed information on resources available to the families we serve.
By training these families, we are empowering them to advocate for the needs of their child and to lead in their local communities and beyond.
In leading alongside these families, we are educating healthcare providers, policy makers, educators, and others on the improved outcomes from including, listening to and honoring the voices of these families.
For more information, visit http://www.familyvoicestn.org.
History of Family Voices:
Family Voices, Inc., was founded in 1992 by family leaders concerned about the changing health care environment and the implications for our children with disabilities, chronic illnesses, or other special health care needs.
Based in New Mexico, Family Voices, is a network of leaders working with families and professionals at the local, state, and national level to improve health care and related services for children.
Family Voices of Tennessee started in 1993 as a program of the Tennessee Disability Coalition and became the first state chapter formally sanctioned by the national organization in the last quarter of 2000. Family-Voices of Tennessee was one of six Family-Voices state programs during 1999-2001 to participate in a pilot program to develop Family-to-Family Health Information Centers (F2FHICs).
These F2FHICs are designed to be family-friendly places to learn about health care service systems and programs for children with special needs. Their purpose is to provide training or assistance to families in navigating various service systems, including Medicaid and TennCare, SSI for Children, Title V (Children’s Special Services), Early Intervention (TEIS), and other programs. Family Voices of Tennessee continues to operate a F2FHIC.
Did you know that ONE in FIVE families has at least one child with special health care needs? Join the Family Voices One-in-Five Awareness Campaign.