About The Oklahoma Family Networks  

Neonatal Parents Network of Oklahoma

Neonatal Parents Network of Oklahoma was founded by a group of local families in 1996. This network is devoted to family centered care and providing one-on-one support for families in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Each family has learned how difficult life can be during one, some, or all of the following medical crises:

• Prenatal care for high-risk pregnancies.
• Neonatal intensive care for premature and critically-ill babies.
• Home care for children with special needs.
• Follow-up pediatric intensive care due to acute or chronic illness.
• Bereavement after the loss of a baby.

Each family also learned how hard it is to find the information and support they need during their crisis. We hope to make it easier for you and other families who must travel down similar paths.

Joni Bruce has been Executive Director since December of 1997. As director Joni is responsible for matching families with infants in the Oklahoma City area Neonatal Intensive Care Units, with families that have had an infant in a N.I.C.U. Additionally she visits Oklahoma City and Tulsa NICU's and does numerous administrative tasks.

On January 20, 1997, Joni and her husband had a son, John Cameron, born at Integris Baptist Medical Center at 36 weeks gestation. He was diagnosed with Infantile Polycystic Kidney Disease a few days later. He remained on life support his entire 55 days at the unit, and unfortunately died on March 16, 1997. Joni and her husband desired in some way to contribute positively to the staff of the unit and to those families coming behind them.

Joni and Jay have 2 other children, Ellen & Christopher.

Special Parents Access Network (SPAN)
SPAN is Oklahoma’s statewide parent-to-parent program for those raising children with developmental delays, medical needs or a disability. SPAN provides information, education and emotional support to family members. In parenting a child who has special needs, one can often feel isolated and overwhelmed. The program is simple…it is a relationship based on “I know, I understand and I care.”

Traci Castles founded SPAN 2001. Traci and her husband, Jed, have three children: Ciara, Hannah and Joshua. Ciara has Central Auditory Processing Disorder; Hannah has a severe anxiety disorder and Selective Mutism; and Joshua has cerebral palsy.

When Traci founded this network in 2001, she had searched for parent-to-parent support for years. Fortunately, SoonerStart, Oklahoma’s Early Intervention Program recognized the importance of this type of network and has been a constant collaborator with Traci for over 3 years. Today, Traci is the Family Services Coordinator for the SoonerStart program and continues to educate and support Oklahoma families. She serves on the OFN Board and is the family advocacy & training director for the network.

Heather Pike is the current Director of SPAN. Heather and her husband, Rod, have two children: Zoe & Layton. Layton has disabilities and developmental delays secondary to Meningitis.

Heather is a Partners in Policymaking Graduate. She currently serves on the OFN Board of Directors and is very involved with the Oklahoma Family Support Partnership Council. She and her family are also very active in the Hearing Enrichment Language Program in Oklahoma and AG Bell International.

Heather has presented family practica experiences to the Oklahoma Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s Annual Conference and the Oklahoma Governor’s Conference on Developmental Disabilities. Through a contract with the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Lee Mitchener Tolbert Center for Developmental Disabilities, Heather organizes family practica to pediatric occupational and physical therapy students through brown bag lunch sessions, Internet forums and student volunteer opportunities to interact with families who have a child with special health care needs, such as respite care.