Student and Family Services
Promising Practices Transition Sites
School-Based Enterprises
Descriptions, websites and contact information are provided below for 11 centers, programs and organizations that provide information, services and resources to students with disabilities and their families. Contact information is also provided for the program liaison at the Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services (BEESS) in the Florida Department of Education (FDOE).
Visit the FDOE BEESS Discretionary Project page for a complete list of projects.
Centers for Autism and Related Disabilities (CARD)
The Centers for Autism & Related Disabilities are located at seven state universities and provide community-based information and consultation to individuals with autism spectrum disorders and related disabilities, their families, and school districts.
Janae Duclos-Francois, Bureau Liaison | janae.duclos-francois@fldoe.org
Directories of Services for Families with Children with Disabilities
The Directory of Services for Families with Children Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing and the Directory of Services for Families with Children Who are Blind or Visually Impaired for 2013-2014 are available for order from Outreach Services for the Blind and Deaf at the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind.
Downloadable order forms can be accessed here (pdf).
General Information:
PH - (904) 827-2200
VP - (904) 245-1022
Family Café (Cooperation, Advocacy, Friendship and Empowerment)
The Family Café exists to provide individuals with disabilities and their families with an opportunity for collaboration, advocacy, friendship and empowerment by serving as a facilitator of communication, a space for dialogue and a source of information.
Aimiee Mallini, Bureau Liaison | aimee.mallini@fldoe.org
Lori Fahey, Contact Person | lfahey@familycafe.net
General Inquiries | info@familycafe.net
Florida School for the Deaf and Blind (FSDB) Outreach
The FSDB Outreach Department works closely with district school leadership and special education personnel throughout the state of Florida with the goal of maximizing opportunities for student success.
(904) 827-2455 I info@fsdbk12.org
207 San Marco Avenue, St. Augustine, FL 32084
Florida Instructional Materials Center for the Visually Impaired (FIMC-VI)
FIMC-VI provides services to students with visual impairments enrolled in Florida’s public and private schools as well as those students that are home schooled as long as they are participating in a “formally organized educational program. FIMC-VI also supports all teachers, school administrators, and agency personnel working with Florida’s K-12 students with visual impairments.
1-800-282-9193 I information@fimcvi.org
4210 W Bay Villa Ave Tampa, FL 33611
Florida Inclusion Network (FIN)
FIN provides learning opportunities, consultation, information, and support to educators, families, and community members resulting in the inclusion of all students.
Kelly Claude - Executive Co-Director
kclaude@contactfin.com
JaSheena Ekhator - Executive Co-Director
jekhator@contactfin.com
Florida Diagnostic and Learning Resources System Associate Centers (FDLRS)
The FDLRS Associate Centers provide diagnostic and instructional support services to district exceptional student education programs and families of students with exceptionalities statewide.
April Katine, Bureau Liaison | april.katine@fldoe.org
FDLRS Multidisciplinary Educational Service Centers
This network of five regional Multidisciplinary Educational Services Centers provides multidisciplinary diagnostic evaluations for pre-school and school-aged children with complex academic, medical, emotional and/or behavioral need. The Centers also provide technical assistance and consultation services to families, school and community agencies and pre-service and in-service training.
April Katine, Bureau Liaison | april.katine@fldoe.org
Region-specific websites:
Learning through Listening Project (LtL)
The purpose of this project is to provide digital audio textbooks and equipment to students who cannot read standard print due to visual, perceptual, physical, or learning disabilities. The project also facilitates support services and training to administrators, teachers, parents, and students on the use of this technology provided by Learning Ally (formerly Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic).
Karrie Musgrove, Bureau Liaison | Karrie.Musgrove@fldoe.org
Kelly Bovard, Contact Person | kBovard@learningally.org
Multiagency Network for Students with Severe Emotional/Behavioral Disabilities (SEDNET)
SEDNET is devoted to facilitating the creation of a comprehensive "system of care" for high-risk students and students with emotional/behavioral disabilities and their families.
Anne Bozik, Bureau Liaison | anne.bozik@fldoe.org
Parents Educating Parents in the Community (PEP)
PEP provides information, training, and support to parents of children with disabilities in select isolated, rural areas of Florida.
Aimee Mallini, Bureau Liaison | aimee.mallini@fldoe.org
Rich La Belle, Contact Person | richlabelle@fndusa.org
Project 10: Transition Education Network
The mission of Project 10: Transition Education Network, hereinafter referred to as "Project 10," is to assist Florida school districts and relevant stakeholders in building capacity to provide secondary transition services to students with disabilities in order to improve their academic success and post-school outcomes.
Angela Roland, Bureau Liaison | angela.roland@fldoe.org
Donna Phillips, Director | dphillips5@usf.edu
Resource Materials and Technology Center for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing (RMTC-D/HH)
Resource Materials and Technology Center for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing (RMTC-D/HH) is a statewide discretionary project of the Florida Department of Education, Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services (BEESS) and functions as a statewide specialized center within the Florida Diagnostic & Learning Resources System (FDLRS) network. The Center is located on the campus of the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind (FSDB). RMTC-D/HH serves as the coordinating unit for accessible materials including captioned and signed videos, professional development books, and other reference materials. In addition, RMTC-D/HH staff provide on-site training and technical assistance to all school districts, families, and other state and federal discretionary projects working with students who are deaf/hard of hearing.
info@rmtcdhh.org
207 San Marco Ave, St. Augustine, FL 32084
Technology and Learning Connections (TLC)
The Technology and Learning Connections (TLC) team is a part of the FDOE, Bureau of Exceptional Student Education-funded PS/RtI project at the University of South Florida. The TLC services support the local development of highly effective classrooms for students with disabilities based on the Florida Standards through an MTSS within a universal education system. The TLC team provides guidelines and resources to support the implementation of the following:
- Florida Standards;
- Assistive and instructional technology;
- Accessible Educational Materials (AEM); and
- Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
The TLC team also manages the AT & UDL Loan Library. The AT & UDL loan library is designed to help districts and schools implement a universal, differentiated core curriculum based on the Florida B.E.S.T. Standards. The assistive technologies available in this library can be used to identify which technologies will best support students with disabilities to participate and progress in core curriculum. The Universal Design for Learning technologies can be used to identify effective, instructional pedagogies that support highly effective learning environments. Accounts are available to district personnel approved by their respective ESE Director and BEESS Discretionary Projects personnel.
BEESS Project Liaisons:
Chelsea Strickland | Chelsea.Strickland@fldoe.org
Matthew Caldwell | Matthew.Caldwell@fldoe.org
Discretionary Project Contact: Janet Good | jgood@usf.edu
Student Support Services Project
Student Support Services staff are charged with facilitating the development of critical support services programs so that observable and measurable indicators of success are achieved. This is accomplished through the provision of technical assistance, training, research, resource development, and policy development and interpretation to local and state educators and parents.
Heidi Metcalf, Bureau Liaison | heidi.metcalf@fldoe.org
Jose Castillo, Contact Person | jmcastil@usf.edu