175 headsets given to PSS Special Education students

From left to right, Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.’s Maternal, Infant, Child and Adolescent Health Child Health coordinator Danielle YJ Su, PSS-Special Education director Donna Flores, PSS-SPED program manager Nora Fujihira, PSS-SPED online coordinator Lucille Deleon Guerrero, and CHCC MICAH Family Support specialist Bridget Lizama pose with the donated headsets. (PSS)

The Public School System’s Special Education Program and the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.’s Family to Family Health Information Center have partnered to improve access to online therapy services by distributing 175 new headsets to children with special health care needs enrolled in the school district.

The headsets were made available through funding awarded to CHCC from the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The F2F HIC operates under the CHCC’s Maternal, Infant, Child and Adolescent Health Programs.

“Our partnership with our Public School System is very valuable. We have an existing interagency agreement through CHCC…[and through this partnership] we believe that our children with special health care needs are receiving the needed specialty services through the Special Education Program and we are here to support and collaborate,” said CHCC MICAH Child Health coordinator Danielle YJ Su.

“These headsets will directly benefit our students receiving online therapy services for children with special health care needs and the professionals who serve them,” Su added.

“It’s very timely for us here, especially in servicing the children in our program, particularly those receiving online therapy services since the transition into remote instruction last year,” said PSS-SPED Program director Donna Flores.

This year, the school district’s Special Education Program is providing online therapy and support services to over 400 children with special needs. These online services provided particularly include speech pathology and occupational therapy. The new headsets will be distributed throughout Saipan, Tinian, and Rota schools.

Through an ongoing collaboration, children identified by CHCC who have special health care needs or disability are referred to the PSS Early Intervention Program or Special Education Program for services. The headsets provided to children enrolled in PSS SPED services will improve access to online services and ultimately work to ensure improved health outcomes for this vulnerable population.

“We have a great partnership with CHCC MICAH program and all of our interagency partners we call the Disability Network Partners,” Flores said.

She also underscored the importance of PSS-SPED’s ongoing partnership through the DNP: “This partnership is never ending. Our purpose is to advocate for all of our kids and provide them the support that they need to be able to access and benefit from the same education and opportunities that all of their non-disabled peers are afforded with, and as they transition into adulthood.” (PR)