New Funding to Help Cerebral Palsy Children in S. Los Angeles

The Special Needs Network (SSN), an organization that provides advocacy, resources, and training for families with developmentally disabled children in underserved communities, has been granted $50,000 to help improve the group's infrastructure.

The foundation grant was awarded by The California Endowment, a private, statewide health foundation, established to expand quality, affordable health care for underserved people in communities.

The money will be used by SSN to form focus groups in the South Los Angeles area and start its new training program, which will teach parents advocacy skills and prompt policies that would minimize the inequality in services for children with developmental disabilities such as cerebral palsy and autism in these communities.

“Families with fewer resources are often left frustrated and confused by a complex system of agencies charged with providing children everything from speech therapy to diapers,” said attorney Areva Martin, the co-founder and president of SSN.

“This grant will allow our organization to move our existing programs to the next level and increase the number of families whose lives we touch.”

The founders of SSN both have special-needs children that tuned them in to the struggles to find adequate services and resources in their community. This inspired them to fill the void by forming SSN and helping those that particularly need help.

African American children with developmental problems such as cerebral palsy are often disproportionately affected by the lack of services and face more obstacles for dealing with such conditions.

According to Jose Marquez, program officer at The California Endowment, “SSN's work in the community over the last year demonstrates their ability to successfully address issues concerning children with disabilities in the African American and South Los Angeles communities that have been unmet.”

“The Endowment sees its grant to Special Needs as the beginning of a relationship that will benefit the lives of families with children with special needs and further both organizations' missions of eliminating health disparities through a grassroots approach,” Marquez said.

Do you live in the South Los Angeles area and have a child with cerebral palsy? Contact a cerebral palsy attorney who may help you obtain financial help for your child's cerebral palsy treatment.