November 2006
Dear Families and Friends,
It’s that time again. The time when we are with family and friends and are focused on being thankful, celebrating a season of giving, and new beginnings with the New Year.
The TA Partnership is thankful for you and your continued interest in the work that we do and support we offer to families, youth, children and the communities across the country. Let us always appreciate what is good in our lives, even when we encounter bumps in the road that would serve to hinder our happiness and joy.
Though the Family Involvement Resource Specialists are new to the Partnership, please be assured that we will continue to support your individual needs as well as those of your communities at large with resources, information, and other technical assistance.
In this month’s resources you will find information from SchwabLearning.org. The team at Schwab has extensive experience in supporting parents of children with challenges and recently shared some wonderful information on how to survive the sometimes stressful holiday season.
Also available this month is a list of articles from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) that may prove helpful as well. AACAP is dedicated to promoting an understanding of mental illnesses and remove the stigma associated with them in order to advance prevention efforts and assure the appropriate treatment and access to services for children and youth.
So until next time, the Family Involvement Resource Specialists and the Technical Assistance Partnership would like to extend to you all very special greetings during this holiday season.
From the SchwabLearning.org:
From the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry:
July 2006
The Wraparound Process User’s Guide- A Handbook for Families
A Product of the National Wraparound Initiative
This User’s Guide is a useful tool to help educate families about the wraparound process. It provides common terms and contains questions and answers about the four phases of the wraparound process. This document also includes a check list of the activities that should take place during the wraparound process and documents and forms you should use along the way. To view the guide, visit http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/nwi/tools/pdfs/
WalkerNWIWraparound%20Family%20Guide.pdf
For additional tools to support the wraparound process, visit http://www.rtc.pdx.edu/nwi/tools/
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Individualized & Tailored Care-Wraparound Parent Partner Training Manual
By Patricia Miles
This workbook, developed by Pat Miles in 2001, explores the roles of parent partners working in wraparound projects. This workbook discusses the practice skills and approaches utilized by parent partners and explores what it means personally and publicly to take on this role. This workbook helps readers develop a structure for the role of parent partner, but the structure provided is by no means carved in stone. Pat is continuing to work with family leaders to craft the roles of parent partners, family support specialists, etc. around the country. To view this guide, click here.
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Putting the Pieces Together: Skills for Family Support Partners
By Richard Donner, Ph.D. and the Family Support Organizations (supported by the New Jersey Division of Child Behavioral Health)
This training provides tangible skills for Family Support Partners working for the New Jersey Partnership for Children. This training is designed for Family Support Partners who have worked through their own initial stages of understanding their child’s issues and are now able to help others on their journey. Family Support Partners are instrumental to families participating in the wraparound process in New Jersey. To view the narrative document, click here; to view the PowerPoint slides, click here
March 2006
Continuing Research on New Roles for Families
The Co-Family Resource Specialists receive many requests for information on how families and agencies are partnering together to develop and implement new roles for families in systems of care. We have compiled the below resources to share examples of how agencies and families are partnering and implementing family positions in mental health, education, head start, early intervention and primary health care. We hope that these resources will help your discussions to create and implement new roles for families in your system of care.
1. Promising Monograph: New Roles for Families in Systems of Care
Volume I, of the 1998 series of monographs, Systems of Care: Promising Practices in Children's Mental Health provides background on how families raising children with mental health needs have found and developed their voice to become strong partners and assertive leaders in developing a better system of care. The Executive Summary of this and the six other volumes in the 1998 series also are available in Spanish.
To view this resource, visit:
http://www.ffcmh.org/publication_pdfs/SystemsCareVolOne.pdf
To view the Executive Summary, visit:
http://www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/cmhs/ChildrensCampaign/1998execsum1.asp
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2. Consumer and Family Member Employment in the Public Mental Health System
The California Mental Health Planning Council conducted the Human Resources Project in response to the serious shortages in human resources at all levels of service in the mental health system. This document reviews the family and professional partnerships that are central to the design and success of the children’s system of care.
To view this resource, visit: http://www.dmh.ca.gov/MHPC/docs/DCFM/dcfmreport_ver1.pdf#search='Family%20employees%20in%20Systems%20of%20Care
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3. Family Leadership in Education
The Institute for Responsive Education (IRE) is a research, policy, and advocacy organization that encourages and supports school, family, and community partnerships to enable high quality educational opportunities for all children. IRE believes that schools, families, and communities all share the responsibility to improve schools and raise education standards. The Institute for Responsive Education is a project out of Cambridge College that is implementing strong family leadership positions to improve the Boston Public Schools.
To view examples of job descriptions for Parent Liaisons and Family Center Liaisons/Coordinators, visit: http://www.responsiveeducation.org/tipLiaison.html
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4. Family Advocate positions in the Head Start Program of Lane County Oregon
The Family Advocate position in the Lane County Head Start Program promotes family wellness and parent involvement programs to support the implementation of the family partnership process. Operate as a liaison and interpreter between classroom and home settings in the area of education, child development and mental health.
To view job descriptions for Family Advocates, visit:
http://www.head-start.lane.or.us/administration/hr/job-descriptions/family-advocate.html
To view job descriptions for Family Advocates/Interpreters, visit:
http://www.head-start.lane.or.us/administration/hr/job-descriptions/family-advocate-interpreter.html
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5. Family Involvement and Partnerships in Early Childhood
The National Early Childhood TA Center (NECTAC) Family Involvement and Partnership web site shares the importance of involving families to ensure that services and supports for young children with special needs are appropriate and effective. Meaningful family involvement needs to happen in all aspects of the service delivery process. Read how families have been involved in the early childhood movement.
To view this resource, visit:
http://www.nectac.org/topics/families/families.asp
Learn how the State of Rhode Island is partnering with a family organization to support early childhood family consultant positions. To view this resources, visit:
http://www.familyvoices.org/toolbox/FE/RI-Fact.doc
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6. Family Leadership in Hospitals and Other Health Care Settings
The Institute for Family-Centered Care provides training for family leadership to advance the understanding and practice of patient and family centered care in hospitals and other health care settings. Patient and family advisors and leaders are critical to the success of an institution’s transition to, and ultimately the sustainability of, patient- and family-centered care. There are a variety of ways that individuals can serve. The following is a list of some of these roles.
To view general information on Patient and Family Advisors and Leaders, visit:
http://familycenteredcare.org/advance/pafam.html
To view profiles of Patient and Family Advisors and Leaders, visit:
http://familycenteredcare.org/advance/pafam-profiles.html
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7. Hurricane Season Prep Tips: The Family Institute for Family Involvement Disaster Preparedness Booklet for Families of Children with Special Health Care Needs
As hurricane season once again approaches, take a look at the helpful information included in this new booklet supported by the Family Recovery Project (www.ffcmh.org). Family-run organizations throughout the hurricane ravaged territories made a real difference after the storms of last season. We encourage everyone to step up and help inform families about what they can do to prepare for the coming season. With our day-to-day challenges, we too often postpone important preventative measures. Another important resource, After the Storm, is available for free download from www.7-dippity.com.
Download the Disaster Preparedness Booklet here.
January 2006
Resources About Your Child's Mental Health Diagnoses
It is important that families have access to information about their child or adolescent’s mental health diagnosis. Having this information will help them feel informed as they seek support, services and treatment. It is also important for family members to learn as much as possible about their child or adolescent’s strengths and abilities and their own supportive and coping abilities. Family members must be able to ask questions to mental health providers and individuals working with their child and family about the diagnosis. Here are some family friendly resources for families learn more about their child or adolescent’s mental health diagnosis.
1. Early Childhood Mental Health: The Continuum of Care
This article from the Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health discusses the importance of identifying and treating mental health issues in young children. The article highlights activities that reduce risk and build protective factors for all children. It also identifies risks to development and early symptoms, describes developmentally and culturally appropriate diagnostic assessments, and highlights effective interventions for common early childhood mental health problems.
http://www.macmh.org/info_resources/articles/glenace_article.php
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2. Families & Health
The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy has compiled an online list of information on families’ needs. While the list targets challenges faced by entire families, it also covers many mental health concerns that specifically deal with children and adolescents. Click on a specific topic to find more in depth information about identifying, treating, and living with a variety of mental health diagnoses.
http://www.aamft.org/families/index_nm.asp
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3. Facts for Families
The AACAP developed Facts for Families to provide concise and up-to-date information on issues that affect children, teenagers, and their families. The AACAP provides this important information as a public service, and the Facts for Families may be duplicated and distributed free of charge as long as the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry is properly credited and no profit is gained from their use.
http://www.aacap.org/publications/factsfam
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4. National Mental Health Association - Children and Families Resources
National Mental Health Association, a leading non-profit in the area of mental health advocacy, has compiled a list of resources that may be helpful to children and families as they adjust to and deal with mental health diagnoses.
http://www.nmha.org/children/index.cfm
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5. KidsHealth for Parents
KidsHealth for Parents is an online community supported by the Nemours Foundation. This site provides consumers and other interested parties with articles on a variety of different topics related to children’s emotions and behaviors. Available articles include: “Understanding Depression,” “Developing your Child’s Self-Esteem,” “What is ADHD?” and “Talking to your Kids about Drugs,” among many others.
http://kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/
