Partners of the Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN) Program

Program goals are carried out through partnerships within Maternal Child Health, with other state agencies and organizations and through contracts with local health departments, private non-profit agencies, University partners, hospitals, and family organizations.

Hospital Partners

  • Mary Bridge Children's Hospital and Health Center assists the CYSHCN Program by 1) Coordinating services for children with cleft lip and/or palate or other complex craniofacial conditions through a contract supporting Maxillofacial Teams and Review Board and 2) Providing developmental evaluations and treatments for children birth to three years with developmental delays through a contract with their Neurodevelopmental center.
  • Providence Sacred Heart Children's Hospital works with the CYSHCN Program to coordinate services for children with cleft lip and/or palate or other complex craniofacial conditions in the East Region through a contract supporting Maxillofacial Teams and Review Board.

University Partners

The CYSHCN Program has contracts with the following programs within the Center on Human Development and Disability at the University of Washington:

Local Health Jurisdiction Partners

Local health departments contract with the CYSHCN Program to provide activities that link children with special health care needs to appropriate programs and services. Through these local programs, families can receive information about medical coverage options and sources of financial support, including Social Security. Health departments collaborate with others in their communities to assure that coordinated systems of care are in place. In each county, a Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs Coordinator (PDF) is designated to oversee these services.

Other Specialized Services

  • Nineteen Neurodevelopmental Centers are supported, in part, by CYSHCN Program funding to provide evaluation, diagnosis, coordinated treatment planning, and specialized therapy to children with a variety of developmental or neurodevelopmental conditions. These non-profit centers depend on state funding to provide a structure for specialty services with support from other payers for services, other state agencies, and community resources.
  • Maxillofacial Teams. The CYSHCN Program contracts with three regional Maxillofacial Teams to coordinate care for infants and children born with oral facial anomalies, like cleft lip and cleft palate.

Family Support Partners

The CYSHCN Program contracts with and supports a number of organizations that provide information and support to families of children and youth with special health care needs, including:

DOH provides representation on the Washington State's Developmental Disabilities Council (DDC). The DDC is a Federal-State partnership working to plan for and with people with developmental disabilities and their families.