Center for Children with Special Health Care Needs Overview

medical provider with young boy

The Center for Children with Special Health Care Needs is committed to advancing the science, care and outcomes for these children and their families.

About our Center

Our vision

Today as many as 20 percent of U.S. children and youth have special health care needs who require care in home, school, primary care and specialty care settings. These children are challenged by chronic physical, emotional, developmental and behavioral conditions such as asthma, autism, cancer, diabetes, Down Syndrome, hearing loss and spina bifida.

Our areas of excellence

  • Chronic illness, including asthma and diabetes
  • Care coordination and management of complex chronic conditions
  • Cross-cultural health and culturally competent care
  • Family health and caregiving
  • Pediatric pain and palliative care
  • Public policy development and advocacy
  • Resilience and stress management
  • Symptom management for children with cancer
  • Transition to adult health care

Our funding

The Center for Children with Special Health Care Needs at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing was founded in 1993 by a nursing training grant from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services.Â