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Care Connection for Children

Introducing Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children's Care Connection for Children, a new program sponsored by the Virginia Department of Health, which has been an advocate since 1936 for children with special health care needs. The Care Connection for Children program is part of a state-wide network that helps families coordinate community and education resources with medical expertise to ensure that children with special health care needs can reach their maximum potential.

Our Mission
The Care Connection for Children program partners with families of children who have chronic health care needs. We open doors to needed resources and coordinate quality family-centered care. We are committed to helping children maximize their potential in a caring, innovative and culturally sensitive manner.

A Personal Touch
Members of the staff pride themselves on building strong, caring relationships with each child and family. This one-on-one, personal touch allows staff members to fully understand the medical, emotional, educational and social needs of each patient and his or her family.

Professional Care
Professional care coordinators work closely with children and their families to provide targeted, comprehensive and culturally appropriate care. These professionals coordinate all services offered by the various providers to children in need, and actively seek input from families and medical practitioners to achieve the best results possible.

Each Care Connection for Children program offers:

• counseling
• information
• education
• social support
• referrals

A Community Approach
While each Care Connection for Children program is funded and administered by the Virginia Department of Health, each program is locally - not centrally - managed, offering an optimally effective, community-based approach to care. Members of the staff understand the needs of children and families they see each day, and their compassion combined with their knowledge of the community's many health care resources provide a foundation of support for families who are often frustrated by the perceived health care maze.

The Children with Special Health Care Needs
Children are eligible to receive services from Care Connection for Children if they are:

• residents of Virginia
• under the age of 21
• have special health care needs (as defined by the Virginia Department of Health*)

*Children who have or are at risk of a chronic physical condition that requires health care of a type and amount not usually required by children of the same age.

Financial assistance may be available to families with income at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty level. These funds assist with payment of certain services such as medications, outpatient monitoring testing, therapies, durable medical equipment and hospitalizations.

Special Children, Special Care
There are more than 190,000 children in the Commonwealth of Virginia who have special health care needs - physical disorders that are expected to last for at least 12 months. These children need treatment beyond that normally expected for their age. Some may have limited ability to function socially, athletically or academically when compared with healthy peers. There are approximately 47,300 children with special health care needs in the Northern Virginia region spanning from Loudoun County to Fredericksburg, VA.