A colorful, "easy-to-find on your desk" binder
Pocket folders to hold items such as copies of district parental waivers, compiled resource lists to give to parents/guardians, and other important resource sheets that may be needed during meetings, etc.
Numerous clear plastic business card pages/holders.
I purchased blank, printable business cards so that I could hand write or create "business cards" on my computer and print community resource information on each card (the information from one resource per card). Most of my cards are handwritten, however, those that I printed out on my computer contain information that rarely changes - such as county agency phone numbers and addresses. An example is seen below.
While the resources in my binder are not all inclusive I create a card for those places/professionals I have had to contact or have worked with. When I need the information, it is at my fingertips. When parents/guardians ask for community resource ideas, I am able to quickly access the information to give to them.
Information on the front of most cards include:
- Name of agency, doctor, therapist, community agency, etc.
- Phone number
- Fax number
- Address
- Website information
- Insurances accepted by resource if known -- (this information has been the most useful to me)
- local mental health agencies
- local governmental agencies (welfare office, department of health, children and youth, etc.)
- local doctors (developmental specialists, psychiatrists, psychologists)
- local mental health providers (therapists, counselors)
- other community resources (Salvation Army, food banks, Headstart, Red Cross, etc.)
- community activities (boy/girl scouts, big brothers/big sisters, recreational department, YMCA, etc.)
- any business cards I received from folks in the field
Using the information I have compiled on my cards, I created a sheet of resources to hand to parents/guardians when asked. On this handout, I state that the list is not all inclusive, but includes some resources in our area. If nothing else, this list provides a starting point for parents/guardians looking for outside services for their child(ren) or family.
I did this last year and I LOVE it! I've converted everything to binders as opposed to folders and it's working like a charm. I have my 504 binder, Small Groups binder, etc.
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