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California Parent Organizations

List of California agencies providing resources for families of children with disabilities.
What is a Parent Training and Information Center (PTI)?

Each Parent Training and Information Center (PTI) is a parent-directed, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization funded by the U.S. Department of Education, authorized under the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as well as private sources. Every state in the United States has a funded PTI. IDEA states that PTIs will assist parents to:

  • Understand special education laws, rights, and responsibilities
  • Understand their children’s disabilities
  • Provide follow-up support for the educational programs of their children with disabilities
  • Communicate more effectively with special and regular educators, administrator, related services personnel, and other relevant professionals
  • Participate fully in education decision-making processes, including the development of the Individualized Education Program (IEP), for a child with disabilities
  • Obtain information about the range of options, programs, services, and resources available to children with disabilities and their families
Core Programs

These core programs and services are offered by each one of the California PTIs:

  • Workshops which cover:
    • Parent and student rights and responsibilities under IDEA
    • Individual Education Program (IEP)
    • Transition to public school
    • Transition from school to adult life
    • Parent mentor training
    • Awareness programs
  • Parent-to-Parent Support
  • Assistance and Advocacy for educational issues and other services (SSI, Respite, etc.)
  • Support Groups
  • Information and Referral
  • Resource Library and Information Packets on a variety of topics including different types of disabilities
  • Collectively the PTI's newsletters reach 55,000 readers in California and over 60,000 parents and professionals contact the PTIs annually
State Improvement Grant (SIG) and Parents

PTIs are working closely with California System of Technical Assistance and Training (CalSTAT) on the implementation of the SIG goals to increase parent participation and collaboration between parents and professionals to improve the educational system. The three main components of these goals are:

  1. Family Leadership Development and Parent Participation Fund (Posted 2007; Outside Source) includes strategies for outreaching to underserved parent populations to increase their participation in policy-making bodies
  2. Mini-grants are offered to PTI centers and Family Resource Centers by the California Department of Education (CDE) through CalSTAT to provide programs and activities that train families in leadership and collaboration skills from a multicultural perspective. These projects are a dynamic way to ensure that more parent voices, especially those from traditionally under-represented communities, guide important issues in special and general education reform initiatives
  3. African-American Outreach includes two projects to increase the number of African-American families in decision-making bodies to influence educational policies which will benefit their children
Parent Training and Information Centers
California Community Parent Resource Centers (CPRC)
  • Loving Your Disabled Child (Posted 2007; Outside Source)
    Theresa Cooper
    3407 Seventh Ave.; Los Angeles, CA 90018
    323-373-0323
    323-373-1213 Fax
    Serving most of Los Angeles County
  • Parents of Watts
    Alice Harris
    10828 Lou Dillon Ave.; Los Angeles, CA 90059
    323-566-7556
    323-569-3982 Fax
    Serving most of Los Angeles County with Loving Your Disabled Child
  • Chinese Parents Association for the Disabled (Posted 2007; Outside Source)
    PO Box 2884; San Gabriel, CA 91778
    626-307-3837
  • Fiesta Educativa (Posted 2007; Outside Source)
    163 S. Avenue 24, Suite 201; Los Angeles, CA 90031
    323-221-6696
    323-221-6699 Fax
  • Vietnamese Parents of Disabled Children Assoc., Inc. (Posted 2007; Outside Source)
    7526 Syracuse Ave.; Stanton, CA 90680
    714-527-9216
    949-724-2914 Fax
    Serving Los Angeles and Orange Counties
SB 511, Family Empowerment Centers

The Family Empowerment Centers (FEC) will provide services focusing on families whose children are from the ages of 3 to 22; serve families of children with all disabilities; and prepare families to partner with professionals in obtaining an appropriate education for children with disabilities.

Counties Served
Organization
Butte, Glenn, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama, Trinity Rowell Family Empowerment Center
Sutter, Yuba, Colusa Family Soup
Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Sierra Plumas Rural Services, Inc.
Napa, Solano, Sonoma Matrix Parent Network & Resource Center
San Francisco Support for Families of Children with Disabilities
Santa Clara Parents Helping Parents, Inc.
San Benito, Santa Cruz Special Parents Information Network
Fresno, Kings Exceptional Parents Unlimited
Kern H.E.A.R.T.S. Connection FRC
Los Angeles Westside Family Resource Center
Los Angeles Family Focus Empowerment Center
Los Angeles Parents' Place
Orange Team of Advocates for Special Kids, Inc.
Imperial, San Diego San Diego State University Foundation on behalf of Exceptional FRC

Family Empowerment Center Organizations and Associated Counties Map (Outside Source)

Contact Information and Services

California Association of Family Empowerment Centers (Posted 2007; Outside Source)
1029 J Street, Suite 120; Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone 916-325-1690 Ext. 306 - Fax 916-325-1699

The purpose of the California Association of Family Empowerment Centers is to provide information, resources, and technical assistance to a statewide network of local FECs who provide family education, empowerment, systems change, advocacy, and parent-professional collaborative activities.

Rowell Family Empowerment Center (Posted 2007; Outside Source)
Kat Lowrance
3830 Rancho Road; Redding, CA 96001
530-226-5129
530-226-5141 Fax
877-227-3471
888-263-1311 Paradise, CA
Serving Far Northern California

  • Information and training for parents of children with disabilities on how the disability affects the child's learning and progress in the general curriculum.
  • Parents/families will become knowledgeable in the systems and services and be full partners in their child's education.
  • Support systems for parents as primary caregivers.
  • Parents will be supported in leadership roles both locally and at the state and federal level. 
  • Parents will become aware of all the systems in their community that support people with disabilities.

Family SOUP (Posted 2007; Outside Source)
Cindy Chandler
1650 Sierra Ave., Suite 106; Yuba City, CA 95993
530-751-1925

Plumas Rural Services, Inc (Posted 2007; Outside Source)
Linda Wymore
586 Jackson St.; Quincy, CA 95971
530-283-3611, ext. 24
530-283-3647 Fax

Plumas Rural Services, Inc. (PRS) is dedicated to "improving the quality of life by promoting the health, education, and well-being of local residents and families." PRS is a multi-program agency. Services include: child care resource and referral, subsidized child care, child care food program, family child care network, domestic violence family focus network; women infant and children, in-home respite, child abuse treatment, senior connections, family center on disabilities and ALIVE, a training and support for adults with special needs.

Matrix Parent Network & Resource Center (Posted 2007; Outside Source)
Jeanne Bowman, FEC Director
94 Galli Drive, Suite C; Novato, CA 94949
415-884-3535
415-884-3555 Fax
800-578-2592
Serving Northern California with Parents Helping Parents of Santa Clara

Matrix was founded in 1983 to provide support to families who have children with special needs. Matrix serves Marin, Napa, Sonoma, and Solano counties. There are no fees for services to families. The Matrix Mission Statement is "Empowering families of children with special needs to successfully understand and access the systems that serve them." Matrix will direct services toward Latino families in the North Bay, providing a full time community outreach and training coordinator, along with a half time support person. We will identify community partners and provide trainings on the IEP process in these seven communities. Matrix will provide follow-up individual technical assistance to professional collaborators and provide mentor training for parent leaders in the communities. Additionally, training materials will be made available in Spanish. 

Support for Families of Children with Disabilities (Posted 2007; Outside Source)
Juno Duenas, Executive Director
2601 Mission St. #606; San Francisco, CA 94110-3111
415-282-7494
415-282-1226 Fax
Serving San Francisco

Since 1982, Support for Families of Children with Disabilities has offered information, education, and parent-to-parent support free of charge to families of children with any kind of disability or special health care needs in San Francisco.

Parents Helping Parents, Inc. (Posted 2007; Outside Source)
Mary Ellen Peterson
3041 Olcott St.; Santa Clara, CA 95054-3222
408-727-5775
408-727-7655 TDD
408-727-0182 Fax
Serving Northern California with Matrix and DREDF

Parents Helping Parents, Inc. (PHP) is a 26-year old parent-directed family resource center offering information, training and support services for children with special needs, their families and the professionals who serve them. Their services benefit children of all ages and backgrounds who have a need for special services due to illness, accidents, birth defects, allergies, learning disorders, family stress, or any other reason.

The goal of the PHP Family Empowerment Center (FEC) is to ensure that Santa Clara County families who have children with special needs between the ages of 3 through 22, especially underserved families, have access to the information, training and support they need to be positively and effectively involved in their children's education. Examples of PHP services include Individual Transition Plan and Student Study Team trainings, bilingual/cultural outreach, information packets, a resource library, a web site, peer counseling, and telephone support.

Special Parents Information Network (Posted 2007; Outside Source)
Pat Golditch
P.O. Box 2367; Santa Cruz, CA 95063
Watsonville 831-722-2800;
Santa Cruz 831-423-7713;
Hollister 831-638-1967
831-722-2580 Fax

SPIN Family Empowerment Center (FEC) serves Santa Cruz and San Benito counties (location TBA) and will be staffed by a PT Director, a PT Parent support coordinator and a PT training coordinator. FEC will provide a walk-in serve at their office with parent meeting spaces and a resource library with Internet access. FEC focus is to provide parent support and training regarding education and the IEP process for parents of children ages 3-22, and offer a parent mentor program, informational events, support groups and networking events.

Exceptional Parents Unlimited (Posted 2007; Outside Source)
Bobbie Coulbourne
4440 N. First St.; Fresno, CA 93726
559-229-2000
559-229-2956 Fax
Serving Central California

The EPU FEC, serving Fresno and Kings counties, is created under the leadership of Exceptional Parents Unlimited in partnership with Clovis Unified School District Family Resource Center and the Family Resource Center in Hanford, which is affiliated with United Cerebral Palsy. FEC will serve families who have children with disabilities ages 3-22 through parent-to-parent support, advocacy training and information.

H.E.A.R.T.S. Connection Family Resource Center and Empowerment Center (Posted 2007; Outside Source)
Susan Graham
3101 N. Sillect Ave., Suite 115; Bakersfield, CA 93308
800-210-7633
661-328-9940 Fax

H.E.A.R.T.S Connection FRC originated in 1990 utilizing grant funding from the Department of Developmental Services to serve families of children with special needs who reside in Kern County. Their mission statement is "To enhance the quality of life for people with special needs through a family directed resource center that symbolizes professionalism, dignity, compassion and respect."

Services include: countywide support groups, a comprehensive library, quarterly newsletter in English and Spanish, monthly calendars in English and Spanish, the Kids on the Block educational Puppet Troupe, a Sibling Program, parent informational trainings, a Toy Lending Library, information dissemination to the community and social activities for special families.

Expansion services will include: part-time Parent Resource Specialists in satellite library/offices in Delano, Lake Isabella, Mojave, Tehachapi and Ridgecrest, adding resources to the libraries including educational kits, a Translation Program with equipment, a Dispute Conflict Resolution Program and an expansion of our sibling program.

Westside Family Resource Center (Posted 2007; Outside Source)
Erieda Galda
5901 Green Valley Circle #320; Culver City, CA 90230-6953
310-258-4063
310-338-9664 Fax

The Westside Family Resource Center provides support, information and access to services for families, professionals and teachers who have or work with children and/or young adults with a disability, chronic illness or other special health care or learning needs. Their intent is to reach out to the community to provide support and information to families whose children do NOT qualify for Regional Center services, but do have I.E.P.s. They will create opportunities for positive parent/professional collaboration and assist families to understand Special education services and how to access them in the least restrictive environment, and will develop culturally sensitive and language-specific support groups throughout the community to connect and inform families. One of their main priorities will be to support non-English speaking families in under-served areas.

Family Focus Empowerment Center (Posted 2007; Outside Source)
Ivor Weiner
CA State University, Northridge; College of Education, Room E109-I
18111 Nordhoff St.; Northridge, CA 91330-8265
818-677-5575
818-677-5574 Fax

The FFEC will provide

  • Comprehensive information about disabilities, laws, and public and private services.
  • Educational programs and support groups to parents.
  • Greater understanding of education and development needs.
  • Collaboration with community agencies and programs.
  • Advocacy for positive dispute resolution.
  • Assistance in teacher preparation and training.
  • Respect for families' cultural, linguistic & socio-economic diversity.

The Parents’ Place (Posted 2007; Outside Source)
Sona Baghdassarian
1550 South Hyacinth Ave., Suite B; West Covina, CA 91791
626-919-1091
800-422-2022

Team of Advocates for Special Kids, Inc. (Posted 2007; Outside Source)
Marta Anchondo
100 W. Cerritos Ave.; Anaheim, CA 92805-6546
714-533-8275
714-533-2533 Fax
Serving Southern California

  • To secure a free appropriate public education for every child with a disability/disabilities.
  • To advance professional competence of those who provide special education, medical and legal services for disabled children.
  • To provide educational programs, workshops, and presentations and maintain a resource center for the parent(s) of child(ren) with disability/disabilities.

San Diego State University Foundation on behalf of Exceptional FRC (Posted 2007; Outside Source)
Joyce Clark
9245 Sky Park Court, Suite 130; San Diego, CA 92123
619-594-7394
858-268-4275 Fax

The Exceptional Family Resource Center (EFRC) will assist families to better understand their child's disability, educational and developmental needs, to access appropriate levels of service delivery and to build positive relationships between parents and professionals for the success of their child.

EFRC will extend outreach and expand training, support, and information components in San Diego and Imperial Counties. The EFRC will focus on the provision of support to families of children and youth with disabilities via parent-to-parent support, accurate information, and specialized training and resources by parents of children with disabilities in San Diego and Imperial Counties. Culturally and linguistically competent services, supports, individualized assistance and training opportunities will be offered to help in the availability and understanding of and how to effectively access and utilize the educational, local, and regional service delivery systems created by PL 105-17 (IDEA) and Title 34 CFR 301, Preschool Grants for Children with Disabilities (including understanding of educational and developmental needs, decision-making processes, IEP development, procedural safeguards, transition assistance, alternative forms of dispute resolution, et. al.).

Regardless of cultural, linguistic, geographical or socioeconomic barriers, EFRC will provide a family-friendly system designed to provide emotional support, information, resources, referrals, and training to underserved parents who have children with disabilities, including guardians and families of children and young adults with disabilities. EFRC will assist parents to better understand the availability of, participation in, and access to the services and supports under the educational system in accordance with applicable federal and state law and regulations. Families, special education and related services, agencies, parent organizations, consumers and professionals will be provided opportunities to build individual and system-wide capacity to communicate more effectively, participate more equitably, and improve relationships between and among themselves.

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