Julie Beckett passed away on Friday, May 13, 2022 at her home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Julie was a passionate and visionary advocate for improving health care for children with special health care needs and disabilities for over 35 years, beginning with her daughter Katie Beckett.
Through her advocacy, Julie made an incredible impact on families of children with special health care needs and disabilities, past and present. Her determined work on behalf of her daughter, Katie, resulted in the creation of the Medicaid Home and Community Based Waiver, known widely as the Katie Beckett waiver, a program that has gone on to allow thousands of families to care for their loved ones at home rather than in institutions.
Julie co-founded Family Voices to promote the inclusion of families’ voices in all levels of health care decision-making for children, work that Family Voices continues almost 30 years later. Julie’s advocacy helped create federally-funded Family-to-Family Health Information Centers (F2Fs) in every state and Washington, D.C. (now also serving five U.S. territories and three tribal nations). F2Fs provide critical support to millions of families of children with special health care needs (CYSHCN). Julie’s legacy lives on.
Julie’s ongoing commitment to the needs of children with special health care needs is evident in the recent donation from her estate to Family Voices in excess of $100,000. Family Voices is humbled and will use this generous donation to continue the policy and advocacy efforts that Julie made on behalf of Katie and other children and families.
In the coming months, Family Voices will announce several initiatives in Julie’s honor, including:
- A policy academy for emerging family leaders and family-led organizations
- A Policy and Advocacy Leadership Award to be presented at the Family Voices Family Leadership Conference
We are excited to continue to lift up the grassroots advocacy model that Julie Beckett used to impact the lives of so many children with special health care needs across the country.
If you would like to build on this policy-focused fund, and help to advance the mission of Family Voices, you can make a gift in honor of Julie Beckett at www.familyvoices.org/donate or mail your gift to Family Voices at 561 Virginia Rd, Bldg. 4, Suite 300, Concord, MA 01742.
Learn more about Julie Beckett’s legacy at A Tribute to Julie Beckett and Family Voices History – Family Voices.
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