Minot State University

From left to right, Dr. David Fuller, president of Minot State University - Dr. Gary Rabe, vice-president for academic affairs - Dr. Brent Askvig, executive director of the North Dakota Center for Persons with Disabilities - Neil Scharpe, staff at NDCPD and principal investigator for one of the grants.

The North Dakota Center for Persons with Disabilities on Minot State University’s campus recently received a three-year $1,065,000 federal grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This grant will assist state agencies, local medical providers and families of children with special health care needs to acquire the knowledge and develop the infrastructure to assure that all youth with North Dakota receive the coordinated care they need.

"We are excited that this project will provide the groundwork for improving services for nearly 1,400 children and youth with special health care needs and their families in North Dakota," said Brent Askvig, executive director for NDCPD. "We are especially pleased that this work will bring together families, physicians and other health care providers to deal with these children’s complex medical and disability issues."

The purpose of the grant is to establish a self-sustaining network of learning collaboratives to help rural families who have children with special health care needs, to conduct pilot programs that build the capacity of communities and the state to provide effective integrated health services to children with special health care needs, and to create a comprehensive plan for implementation of an integrated service system for children with special health care needs. The network will strengthen its capacity to serve this population by achieving the grant outcomes in collaboration, training, system navigation and leadership.

By developing a network of learning collaboratives, the state will provide significant education and training to primary care providers, families and other important partners on coordinated care. Several community primary care providers will work as demonstration sites to pilot a medical home concept in urban, rural and Native American communities. NDCPD will coordinate an annual stakeholder symposium to create support for an integrated system. Input from culturally diverse families and information about culturally competent practices will be shared within learning collaboratives to effect long-term change in care coordination and practice. Finally, the work of the network will influence change to a more integrated service system for children with special health care needs.