Who are the new people in your CI neighborhood clinics? Did you know, CI has two Family Support Liaisons on staff? We joined the team in May 2021 and have loved getting to work with so many CI families. We would like to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves and what we do here at CI!
Meet Kayla Darkow
Hi Friends! My name is Kayla Darkow and I am the Family Support Liaison supporting staff and families at the Mckee, Hatchery Hill, Sun Prairie and Waunakee community clinics. I was born and raised here in Madison and love everything about the city. I am proud to continue to serve the community and raise my own family here. My younger brother is deaf and has been a source of inspiration my entire life and ultimately led me to find my passion working with children and families. I graduated from UW-Madison with a degree in social welfare and furthered my education by completing a capstone certificate in Infant, Early Childhood and Family Mental Health. My past work experience includes working with underserved families in Dane County as a Home Visitor and as a Care Coordinator for a Medicare Advantage Plan. I am also a certified educator of infant massage and have training and experience in Motivational Interviewing. I am a lover of children’s books, Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream and the Green Bay Packers.
Meet Rebecca Devereaux
Hello! I’m Rebecca Devereaux and I am the Family Support Liaison helping families at the Verona, East and West Middleton, and Wausau community clinics. I graduated from Bradley University with a degree in Spanish and International Studies. I love using my bilingual skills to improve communication with families. I grew up in a small town near the Mississippi River but spent the first decade of my adult work life in Chicago and Phoenix serving low income families living in public housing and on reservations respectively. Other work experience includes: human resource recruiting, working in the schools, and scheduling family medicine patients. I’ve been passionate about helping children and parents get the services they need ever since I worked as a teacher’s assistant at our children’s school. My husband and I moved to the Madison area in 2002 to raise our 3 wonderful children (who are almost all grown now!). Our family enjoys playing games, watching movies, volunteering, and vacationing together.
So what do we do at CI?! Our primary role is to connect with families to give information about community resources, identify outside providers, and deliver ongoing support. We are both learning so much about what wonderful opportunities there are in the Madison area and we love sharing them to reduce the amount of time parents need to spend researching. We keep tabs on the current waitlists for Neuropsychology evaluations and Mental Health Providers, know the ins and outs of grant applications, and locate sensory friendly events in the community. We refer families to peer support groups, suggest umbrella organizations which specialize in serving the healthcare needs of children with disabilities, and continually update our list of tutoring resources and therapy providers. We inform families of school-aged children what to expect during the IEP process and transition planning for life after high school. We assist families with questions on job coaches, transportation, respite, daycare, and overnight camps. We present resources for adaptive equipment, help families locate accessible playgrounds and share recreational opportunities of all kinds, and even make book recommendations. In short, if you want information or resources about a particular topic, we are happy to help you find out about it!
Being parents ourselves, caring for and supporting children and families is what we love to do! We are here to listen and help ensure that your family’s CI experience is truly exceptional. We look forward to finding out how we can best support your family’s experience here at CI and collaborate with you as your child moves toward increased independence and community engagement! Please contact us if you have a question or concern; we’re also happy to coordinate communication with billing, scheduling or the clinic teams.
You are welcome to reach us directly by email at kayladarkow@citherapies.com or rebeccadevereaux@citherapies.com. Alternatively, you can fill out the contact form on CI’s “Connect” tab on the home page https://www.citherapies.com/get-started/ or let your child’s therapist know and we would be happy to give you a call. Even better, come say “hi” when you see us around the clinics or at one of our fun CI sponsored events!