We are pleased to announce that Family Voices of Wisconsin (FVW) has completed a new learning session to make sure every family is prepared for their child’s enrollment in Wisconsin’s Children’s Long-Term Support (CLTS) Program. Get Ready: An Introduction to the Children’s Long-Term Support Program is now available as an on-demand session in English and Spanish. We’ll be hosting live Zoom sessions of our newest learning session in December and several times in early 2025. To find a session that fits with your schedule see the familyvoiceswi.org/events-calendar.

Family Voices new Director, Danielle Tolzmann, worked closely with several community groups and received feedback from over 100 parents and other family members whose children are, or have been, enrolled in CLTS to develop the content for this learning session. 

“As we co-created Get Ready, we learned a lot about the experiences of families, and we used them as the basis for this new presentation. We piloted the session and adjusted the content along the way.”

In addition, ARPA funding allowed FVW to continue our work on Early Choices Matter: Children Building Choice-Making Skills. This session is also available on-demand, in English and Spanish. Live Zoom sessions were hosted for Spanish-speaking families this fall with overwhelmingly positive feedback.   

In early November, FVW staff members presented Early Choices Matter to CLTS Program and Birth to Three Program professionals. We explained the importance of giving children, starting at a young age, the chance to start making their own decisions to prepare them for making bigger and more important decisions as they grow up. We encouraged CLTS and Birth to 3 Program professionals to help families and model choice-making with the children they support. We also encouraged them to share the worksheets and other family-friendly tools we made to support this learning program.    

Get Ready: An Introduction to the CLTS Program offers ideas to prepare families to get the most out of this valuable program.  The session includes:  

• • • How the CLTS Program supports kids and families using examples of what may be covered.
    • Steps and expectations when determining eligibility and enrollment, and tips for being ready for the screening process.
    • Understanding your child’s Individual Service Plan (ISP).
    • The role of the support and service coordinator.
    • Hints and tips about the CLTS program from families who have been through it.

Early Choices Matter: Children Building Choice-Making Skills provides tools and resources for families who have children and teens with disabilities to work on building their choice-making and decision-making skills. This session was developed with the foundation that adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities have shared that as children, the adults in their lives supported them and made all the decisions for them. While this offered safety and less risk, they were not prepared to make their own decisions as adults. Choice-making skills can:

• • • empower children to have more control over their lives
    • improve their own safety
    • enhance communication and self-advocacy
    • lead to improved decision making as adults

Would you like to bring one of these sessions to your community?

FVW can partner with local groups, schools and other agencies to host one of our learning sessions in 2025. Online (Zoom) sessions are preferred in the winter months, but in-person sessions are also available. There is no cost to your group. For more information on hosting a learning session please visit familyvoiceswi.org/host-a-learning-session.