- What is IPUL?
- What do we do? Who do we serve?
- Who IPUL is
- Our Mission and Guiding Principles
- Contact IPUL
- Join IPUL's Board
What is IPUL?
What is Idaho Parents Unlimited?
Founded in 1985, Idaho Parents Unlimited, Inc. (IPUL) is a statewide organization which houses the Idaho Parent Training and Information Center, the Family to Family Health Information Center, Idaho Family Voices and IPUL Arts.
IPUL Education: The Parent Training and Information Center ensures that parents of children with disabilities receive training and information on their rights, responsibilities, and protections under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in order to develop the skills necessary to cooperatively and effectively participate in planning and decision making relating to early intervention, educational, and transitional services.
IPUL Health: As the State Family Voices Affiliate and the Family to Family Health Information Center, IPUL assists families in making informed choices about health care; provides training, information, and resources to families of children with special health care needs.
IPUL Arts: Artist in Residence Program and Work of Art. IPUL empowers and engages people with disabilities in the creative process through opportunities which are fully inclusive, educational. and participatory. IPUL Arts connects teaching artists with students both with and without disabilities in Idaho schools and community centers through our Creative Access Artist in Residence program ensuring children and youth have access to high-quality arts education. IPUL Arts also houses the Work of Art program in partnership with the Idaho Division of Vocational Rehabilitation to provide pre-employment skills to youth with disabilities through a unique and collaborative design thinking process.
Idaho Parents Unlimited's programs fulfill a mission to educate, empower, support and advocate for individuals with disabilities and their families.
What do we do? Who do we serve?
What IPUL Does / Doesn't Do
What we do:
- Provide individual assistance to families through calls, emails, and in-person meetings
- Provide options that you may have to resolve any individual issues
- Present monthly training workshops and webinars on a variety of topics
- Provide special request workshops at community events and/or conferences as well as for parent or professional groups
- Advocate for systems, programs, policies, and rules that have an impact on Idaho families
- Provide effective advocacy training and information for families and youth to best advocate for themselves.
- Provide Parent Leadership Development training annually to build on a growing list of parent mentors who can amplify our work across the state.
- Provide scholarships to parents to attend conferences or events related to your child’s disability.
- Provide arts education through our in-school/community center residencies and Work of Art Programs
- Listen and provide support
What we do NOT do:
- Advocate on behalf of an individual child or family
- Attend IEP meetings
- Tell you what you should do
- Provide legal assistance
- Endorse or promote specialty care providers, legal services, or schools/districts
- Provide general parenting training (ie: court ordered classes)
- Provide 24-hour crisis services (we are not a crisis agency)
- Provide routinely scheduled art classes
Who We Serve
Who do we serve?
Idaho Parents Unlimited works with parents, family members, and caregivers of children and youth with disabilities and special health care needs and the professionals who are a part of their lives. While our office is in Boise, we work statewide using technology, and we frequently travel to all regions of the state throughout the year. We assist families who have children of any diagnosis from birth to age 26.
Who are Children and Youth with Disabilities and Special Health Care Needs?
Children and youth who have or are at increased risk for chronic, physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional conditions and who also require health, education, and related services beyond that required by children generally (http://familyvoices.org/ncfpp/f2fs/). To keep things simple, Children and Youth with Disabilities and Special Health Care Needs will be referred to by using the acronym CYSHCN.
- 68% have 2 or more health conditions
- 45.5% have health conditions that affect their daily activities
- 37.5% require specialized medical care
- 33.2% require mental health care
- 47.2% needed mental/behavioral health care but did not receive it (2)
- 12% of Idaho’s student population receive special education services
In Idaho, there are approximately 34,000 children ages 3-21 receiving special education services. Furthermore, an approximate 4,500 students receive services under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (access accommodations). (NCLD) https://www.ncld.org/identifying-struggling-students
This does not account for infants, toddlers, or students who may be homeschooled or in private school settings. It is estimated that one in five children are living with a disability or special health care need.
Idaho Parents Unlimited provides assistance and training to approximately 5,000 families and professionals each year. Our services are always at no cost to families and are available to anyone who seeks them.
2021 Year in Review
2021 - IPUL'S YEAR IN REVIEW
IPUL is a statewide non-profit orgainization whose programs are primarily funded under grants and contracts as the Parent Training and Information Center, Family to Family Health Information Center, and IPUL Arts.
7,289
Instances of assistance IPUL provided families and professionals via one-to-one assistance through email, phone, both in person and online trainings, workshops and presentations.
121
Meetings with professional partners who help us to assist families in every way possible, througought the entire state.
469
People reached by trainings, workshops, presentations, webinars, and meet and greets IPUL held around the state and virtually, through our online monthly training opportunities
16
Monthly webinars and Facebook live Lunch and Learn opportunities for parents. These trainings ocvered a variety of special education, advocacy, and health topics.
70
Youth who participated in our Work of Art progam, totalling more than 1200 hours of arts education and experience.
480
Youth who participated in our Art residencies in K--12 classrooms, community centers, and shelters, equating to over 4,800 hours of art education!
8
Total staff members at IPUL. We hope to get to know more of you in 2022!
- Angela Lindig, Executive Director
- Sarah Tueller, Program Coordinator
- Melissa Vian, Parent Education Coordinator
- Amanda Akers, Parent Education Coordinator
- Rosario Beagarie, Parent Education & Translation
- Heather Kirk, Arts Coordinator
- Candace Garman, Accounting
- Bill Nuttycombe, Information Technology & Head Nerd
CONTACT US:
ipulidaho.org
(208) 342-5884
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Who IPUL is
Staff
We are the families we serve.
Angela Lindig
(208) 342-5884 Ext. 102
Sarah Tueller
Parent Education Coordinator
(208) 342-5884 Ext. 103
Melissa Vian
(208) 342-5884, Ext. 104
Heather Kirk
Parent Education Trainer
(208) 342-5884, Ext. 107
Rosario Beagarie
(208) 342-5884, Ext. 106
Candace Garman
(208) 342-5884, Ext. 101
Bill Nuttycombe
(208) 342-5884, Ext 105
2022 - Board of Directors
North
Cait Christensen
Allison Wright
East
Jared White
Vacancy
Southwest
Jennifer Johnson
Mary Gauthier
Roy Elizondo
Jake Naylor
South Central
Becky Baily
Renae Deckard
Our Mission and Guiding Principles
Engage + Educate + Bridge + Lead
Vision
Idaho Parents Unlimited, Inc. envisions inclusive and accessible communities, services, education, and opportunities for children and youth with disabilities and/or unique and special healthcare needs.
Engage
We are the families we serve. We are allies who build relationships and assist parents to be involved in supporting the needs of their children and to be leaders who are a resource to other parents.
Educate
We support your journey and decision making as parents with credible information, training, and technical assistance, so you feel empowered to act on behalf of your children.
Bridge
We serve as a bridge between families, children, and youth and the partners who provide services to understand needs, access resources, and support mutually beneficial solutions.
Lead
We are leaders in providing credible information and research-based data to support systemic change that removes barriers and creates equitable access to services, education, and opportunities.
Our Ethical Standards
Idaho Parents Unlimited adheres to the Ethical Standards for Human Services Professionals, as found on the National Organization for Human Services website.
Our Guiding Principles
Parents, guardians, and other interested parties who seek IPUL’s assistance will receive, on a timely basis, accurate, culturally appropriate, understandable information and referral services on their children’s disabilities and their children’s rights under the laws that serve children/adults with disabilities. Additionally we will provide information on effective participation in team decision-making and finding service options/opportunities to meet their children and families’ needs. IPUL’s services must be accessible to all families in Idaho, regardless of language, disability, or cultural differences.
IPUL believes in the full participation of people with disabilities and their families in all decision-making processes that affect the services their children receive.
IPUL believes that people with disabilities and their families have the right and the responsibility to be actively involved in the local, state, and national decision-making that affect their lives. To that end, IPUL will seek to identify and facilitate the involvement of parents of children and youth with disabilities on policy-making committees and activities.
Based on established priorities, IPUL will participate in systemic change efforts that promote the interests of individuals with disabilities and their families.
IPUL believes parents should be informed of the options and opportunities that their children, upon adulthood, have to make their own life decisions, to the maximum extent possible. To facilitate this process IPUL provides the tools and resources families need to best advocate in the transition to adult service systems process.
Contact IPUL
For assistance, the best method is via our webform or our intake line.
By Webform: Contact Us Here
By Phone: (208) 342-5884 (Intake line)
Toll free: (800) 242-IPUL (4785)
By Fax: (208) 342-1408
By Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Office Location/Mailing Address
Idaho Parents Unlimited, Inc.4619 W Emerald St, Ste. E
Boise, ID 83706
Idaho Parents Unlimited's Social Media Policy
Idaho Parents Unlimited has an online presence on several different platforms. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. While we post things on these services, we don't constantly monitor them for private messages. Facebook specifically has been unreliable in notifying us about private messages, due to having more than one page administrator. Therefore, if you send a message to our FB inbox, you will receive an automatic reply directing you to our website intake form or phone number. We prefer to use our systems that are designed to provide appropriate assistance.
We have policies regarding staff and their personal Facebook pages as well as other social media sites - including personal cell phones (text messaging). Frequently, our staff are tagged in posts on groups and expected to respond (or they feel obligated) after regular business hours. They also receive private instant messages via this technology as well.
Our company policy is that all staff have been instructed to respond to work-related messages only during our regular business hours (Monday-Friday; 9:00-5:00) or during their individually scheduled hours when they are each working using company equipment and resources only. If you contact employees with their personal messaging accounts, they are instructed to not respond, other than to direct you to our official channels.
The best way to ask us for help is via our intake inbox, available on our website at the link that says "Contact Idaho Parents Unlimited - (Ask Us a Question Here)" or by calling our phone line at (208) 342-5884 and leaving a message on our intake line.
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