This webinar focuses on practical, implementable strategies leading to effective and sustained collaboration between Parent Centers and State Education Agencies. The presenters provide examples of practices across the Collaboration Continuum that have led to successful, authentic engagement. Characteristics of a partnership that has continued over time, survived changes in personnel, and endured across short and long-term initiatives, are described.
Presenters:
Helen W. Post is the Executive Director of the Utah Parent Center (UPC or Center) and Utah’s statewide Parent Training and Information (PTI) project. She has been affiliated with the Center since before 1986 and has served as the Executive Director since 1989 guiding it successfully through a period of significant growth. Under her direction, the award-winning UPC operates from a philosophy that values reciprocal relationships, teamwork, cooperation and the highest levels of fully-engaged collaboration. Many thousands of parents whose sons and daughters experience the full range of disabilities across the lifespan, educators, administrators, and professionals have received highly effective training and information through the PTI and other projects of the Center. As a parent herself, Helen is a passionate advocate for families and the systems that provide services to their sons and daughters with disabilities.
In her capacity as the director of Utah’s Parent Training and Information project and the Utah Parent Center (UPC or Center), Helen has had a leadership role in the development, implementation, and evaluation of numerous initiatives related to special education services and programs and in cross-agency collaboration among the many systems that serve individuals with disabilities and their families.
Kim K. Fratto, M.Ed. works for the Utah State Board of Education as an Education Coordinator in the Special Education Services Section. She supports Local Education Agencies (LEAs) in the areas of Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), English Learners (EL) with disabilities, Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD), and Utah Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (UMTSS). Kim earned her B.S. Degree in special education mild/moderate from Utah State University and her M.Ed. in special education with an emphasis in severe disabilities from the University of Utah. Kim also holds an administrative license and an ESL endorsement. Throughout her teaching career, she has taught in both private and public school settings in general and special education classrooms. She has experience from pre-school to post high school settings. Kim serves on the board of Directors and Professional Advisory Board for The Learning Disabilities Association of Utah and is invested in helping all students increase their access and participation in the general education curriculum and settings.