Mother of a son with Autism
Mother of a son with Autism
Connecting to Care is dedicated to improving the lives of individuals with disabilities, mental health issues and barriers to health resources due to living in rural communities. Individuals benefit from an integrated approach to meet more than one need. We offer a spectrum of services including; Assistive Technology, TelePsychiatry, and Behavioral Health. We accept referrals from many organizations such as; Regional Centers, Dept. of Rehab, Schools, Residential Group Homes, Physicians, SLP’s and Physical Therapist. Staffed by professionals, our programs are tailored to bring out the abilities of the people we serve.
I am writing to give my whole-hearted support for Connecting to Care and the services this outstanding non-profit provides.
The Department of Psychiatry has been providing telepsychiatry services to consumers of Far Northern Regional Center for over a decade and has been collaborating with Connecting to Care for that purpose. Our faculty has a collaborative relationship with the founders of Connecting to Care, who established a program that provides services for FNRC clients in need of specialty psychiatry services not available anywhere in the FNRC service area.
I have experienced firsthand the successes made by consumers when utilizing the Connecting to Care Assistive Technology Services and its positive impact on the following;
- Increased access to self-advocacy opportunities for consumers with the use of Assistive Technology.
- Providing a replicable, state of the art model for employment through the application of technology for specialty populations.
Having worked in telepsychiatry since 1996, I am well aware of the difficulty in designing integrated programs and then maintaining services. They have been easy to set up, yet have had poor sustainability and have come and gone. I am also aware of the need to adapt employment and self-advocacy opportunities to the regional center population and the local service network.
I believe the staff at Connecting to Care has done an exceptional job with this. Suzi Coleman is a gifted administrator who really knows how to make these programs operate successfully in a collaborative manner. She is a collaborator and co-author on an article we wrote entitled, Telepsychiatry for Children with Developmental Disabilities: Applications for Patient Care and Medical Education, accepted for publication in Child Psychiatric Clinics of North America Jan 2011.
In summary I support the Connecting to Care without exception.
Sincerely,
Roxy Szeftel MD
Szeftel Medical Group – L.A. Telepsychiatry
Director, Child Psychiatry and Child Psychiatry Training
Telepsychiatry Developmental Disabilities Clinic
Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, UCLA
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