Springfield’s Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. announced a newly developed Chartered Special Needs Consultant (CSNC) designation to help financial services professionals plan for families’ special needs children’s future.

The CSNC curriculum will initially only be available to MassMutual and its agents, according to a statement. The curriculum grew from the company’s SpecialCare program, which gives special needs families access to information, specialists, financial products and services that can help improve the quality of life for people with disabilities and special needs.

"Children with disabilities often outlive their parents and caregivers, and that may cause a lot of parents to worry about who will take care of their children when they’re gone," said John Vaccaro, senior vice president of sales and distribution for MassMutual’s network of financial professionals. "This trend is compounded by an increasingly complex set of laws governing the special needs life care planning process."