PIC Programs

The Parent Information Center is an agency with a variety of grant-funded programs which together carry out our mission and provide our services.

PIC On Special Education. Provides consultations, workshops, and information related to special education.
NH State PIRC (Parent Information and Resource Center). Promotes parent involvement in education through information, products, training, and technical assistance to parents and schools.
SSECT (Supporting Successful Early Childhood Transitions). Supports the transition from Early Supports and Services to preschool for children with special needs.
NH Connections. Develops regional family-school-community networks and action teams related to special education.
AFC (Advocates for Families of Children with Disabilities). Provides consultations and technical assistance.
MICE (Multi-Sensory Intervention through Consultation and Education). Referrals and evaluations for any child ages 0-3 suspected of having a visual or hearing impairment.
NH Family Voices. Library and resources for parents with children with disabilities or special health care needs.
Volunteer Programs. PIC offers a Volunteer Advocate program and a Literacy Volunteer Program.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

History of NH Connections

 

NH Connections Map of 5 RegionsIn 2003, with funding from the NH Department of Education, Bureau of Special Education, NH Connections developed five Regional Support Networks to strengthen and expand family-school-community partnerships to improve educational outcomes for all children while meeting the unique needs of children and youth with disabilities. 

The project’s goals focused on 1) strengthening and expanding family-school-community partnerships; 2) supporting family involvement in the special education process and 3) increasing awareness of resources to help children succeed. These goals were accomplished using the Regional Support Network Model.  The five Regional Support Networks (based on the Superintendent’s regions) facilitate knowledge of and access to supports and services statewide.

This project was designed in response to the needs of families and schools. The NH Department of Education recognized that families of children with disabilities experience gaps in services due to funding and other issues that result in children/youth not receiving the comprehensive services they need.  Schools were also seeking help to improve outcomes for children with disabilities.  The Regional Support Network approach allowed all stakeholders to have a voice in addressing NH Connections Team Photoconcerns.  Together, families, schools, and community members identified gaps in services and created regional plans to address the identified needs. 

NH Connections’ approach to improving family/school/community partnerships is grounded in 30 years of research conducted by Epstein, Mapp, Henderson et al.(1)  This research and related evidence based practices inform the work of the Regional Support Networks and the activities of the project. NH Connections recognizes, and is supported by research, that this important work cannot be accomplished by one agency or organization alone but through the collaborative efforts of a network of partners committed to improving outcomes for children and youth with disabilities. (Appendix A: Letters of Support) This project promotes and facilitates partnerships for collaborative problem solving and the project has shown that family/school/community partnerships do indeed drive improvements in parent/family engagement.