About Us

Mission

Strengthening families and systems of care to improve outcomes for children with disabilities and special health care needs.

Vision

To ensure families of children who have disabilities and special health care needs have the support, information, training, and hope they need to raise their child to reach their highest potential.

History

Raising Special Kids began in 1979 as a grass-roots effort of families, professionals, and community leaders determined to provide support and information for parents of children with disabilities and special health care needs. Today, Raising Special Kids serves as Arizona’s Family-to-Family Health Information Center, and as Arizona’s Parent Training and Information Center. Helping parents access information about health care, community resources, and support services so they can make informed decisions regarding their children’s care has been our mission from the beginning. We support thousands of Arizona families each year through our programs and services.

Credo of Family Support

We believe that experienced families are a key source of knowledge and support to help new parents become effective advocates for their children.

We believe that professionals are important allies for families. The shared wisdom, counsel, respect and support creates enhanced positive outcomes for children.

We value diversity and celebrate our commitment to serving families in many forms.

We believe in supporting the role of the family in establishing public policy and promoting public awareness related to families and disabilities.

We believe that parents who model effective self-advocacy encourage a child’s pursuit of their own dreams.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement

At Raising Special Kids, diversity, equity, and inclusion are core values that drive decision-making, resource allocation, and the development of our policies and practices.

We rely on the diverse background, experience, perspective, and expertise of our staff and board to support the communities we serve and each other. We rely on active and consistent engagement and input from the community and those we serve to improve our work.

We strive to provide equal access to opportunities and resources for individuals, taking into account elements of difference across national origins, socio-economic backgrounds, languages, ethnicities, races, skin colors, cultures, generations, religions, spiritualties, gender identities, and sexual orientations, as well as different skills, needs, cognitive variabilities, customs, values, and beliefs.

We advocate for diverse, equitable and inclusive programs, services and systems; challenging said systems and ourselves to recognize and act on injustices and inequities that oppose our core values of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Our programs promote belonging and recognize family beliefs, values, and priorities in the provision of services to address unmet needs.

We respect and honor the dignity and worth of all individuals.