Welcome Maine Families and Community Partners,
Family Voices: Heart of Change!
This summit is a collaborative partnership between the Maine CDC and the Maine Parent Federation, bringing together families, professionals, and community organizations to learn, connect, and inspire meaningful change.
March 17th 2026
9:00 am – 2:30 pm
Augusta Civic Center
76 Community Drive, Augusta Maine 04330
Exhibitors: AT MAX CAPACITY: Exhibitor Sales Closed- Thank you for your interest!
Participant: $20 per person
8:30 – 9:00 – Check-in at Welcome Table
9:00 – 10:00 – Keynote with Katie Novak
10:00 – 10:15 – Break
10:15 – 11:30 – Breakout Session
(Choose 1)
Presented by Allison Wiest, Dylan Campbell, Farrah Elshoff, and Mary Watson
This session highlights practical, real-world strategies families can use to feel more equipped and empowered when working with school systems and outside providers to support their child’s learning and growth. We will focus on how parents can partner with their child’s school team and other systems of care to ensure their child receives coordinated and child-centered support and to ensure their child is experiencing success in and out of school. Participants will explore best practices, coordination tools, and effective advocacy approaches grounded in lived experience, with takeaways they can apply immediately.
Dylan and Allison form MPF’s Training Department. Together, we create family-friendly trainings, resources, and support family engagement across systems of care. We work directly with youth and families on self-advocacy, transition planning, and systems navigation, as well as engage in state-level work that blends our lived experience with our professional roles. We are passionate about supporting families like ours and strengthening grassroots, community-driven change.
Our parent partners, Farrah Elshoff and Mary Watson, joined us to create this session and provide their experiences.
Farrah and Mary’s full bio can be found under the Parent Panel.
We hope to see you there!
OR
Presented by Kasey McBlais, with Lisa Rancourt, and Vicky Fisher
This workshop is designed for parents and caregivers of children with disabilities who want to strengthen their advocacy skills and communicate with confidence. Participants will explore how understanding parental rights can support more effective advocacy and how to apply that understanding in ways that are clear, confident, and grounded in lived expertise.
Participants will engage in guided discussions and a collaborative activity to analyze the impact of language choice on advocacy efforts, as well as explore how collecting relevant data can enable caregivers to articulate their needs with greater clarity and effectiveness. Caregivers will leave with practical tools to communicate with purpose and with evidence to strengthen their advocacy efforts.
Kasey McBlais is a dedicated advocate, parent, and professional supporting children and families. A Rochester Institute of Technology graduate, she began her career with AmeriCorps in rural Montana and has since worked in group home management, foster/adopt recruitment, and now serves as an Information Specialist with Maine Parent Federation. As a mother to a neurodivergent son and neurotypical daughter, Kasey advocates for families through public speaking, legislative engagement, and leadership. She is a Maine State Parent Ambassador alumna, 2024 NH-ME LEND graduate, and has collaborated with organizations such as Zero to Three, FamiliesUSA, and Maine AEYC to advance family-centered policy.
Parent Partners Lisa Rancourt and Vicky Fisher joined Kasey to create this session. Lisa and Vicky’s full bios can be found under the Parent Panel.
11:30 – 12:00 – Break -Get Lunch, settle into tables for presentation
12:00 – 1:00 – Care Coordination: A Parent Panel
We would like to give a special thank you to our parent panelists.
Farrah brings lived experience navigating special education, medical, mental health, and juvenile justice systems for her neurodivergent children. This has shaped her belief that every family deserves compassionate, steady, and individualized support.
1:00 – 1:15 – Break
1:15 – 2:15 – Advocating & Coordinating Care for Children with Medical Complexity: A Clinician Perspective
Presented by Logan Murray, MD, Dana Okin MSN, RN, CPN, CNL, Amanda Payne, MSN, FNP, Jessica Rock, RN, BSN
This presentation highlights how clinicians in the MaineHealth Program for Children with Medical Complexity partner with families to navigate the challenges of care coordination and advocate for the needs of medically complex children. It emphasizes empowering parent voice, strengthening collaboration, and equipping families with practical tools to support effective advocacy across healthcare, community, and systems.
Dr. Murray graduated from the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine in 2006 and completed his Pediatric Residency (2009) and Chief Residency (2010) at Maine Medical Center. His research includes serving as principal investigator for a grant-funded study of novel techniques for vaccine-related communication in primary care. More recently, he has focused on children with medical complexity and was an Academic Pediatric Association Research Scholars Program Fellow for 2021-2024.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of New Hampshire and a Master’s in Clinical Nurse Leadership from Saint Xavier University. A proud member of the Pediatric Complex Care Association, Dana is a passionate advocate for family-centered care, striving to make sure families feel seen, heard, and supported as they navigate the often-challenging landscape of pediatric healthcare.
2:15 – 2:30 – Evaluations & Final Remarks.
Goodbye! Thank you!
This Summit is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office of Special Education Programs of the U.S. Department of Education. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official view of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government.
