Programs for Parents With Mental Illness and Their Children

• Parenting Options Project: http://www.umassmed.edu/pop/
  The Parenting Options Project (POP) is a 3-year endeavor to create education and skills training materials for parents with mental illness. Parents with mental illness are actively working together with researchers, program providers, and policymakers to meet the needs of families.
• The Invisible Children's Project: A Family-Centered Intervention for Parents with Mental Illness: http://www.mhaorangeny.com/icpweb.htm
  The Invisible Children's Project (ICP) was developed to address the needs of, and the gap in services for parents with mental illness and their children. In addition to providing direct services to parents and children, ICP aspires to create systems change on a local, state, and national level.
• Family Connection Project: A Specialized Support Program for Parents with Depression: http://www.bostonabcd.org/programs/head-start-family-connection.htm
  This innovative program teams ABCD Head Start with the Department of Psychiatry at Boston's Children's Hospital and the Harvard University Graduate School of Education to develop a model to recognize and treat Head Start parents with depression. The goal of the project is to strengthen the entire family and avert the debilitating effects of parental depression on children.
• The Adolescent Girls' Development Project: http://members.rogers.com/agdp/
  The purpose of the Adolescent Girls' Development Project is to better understand how children of parents with depression manage the many important challenges children face during adolescence, including making friends, handling peer pressure, becoming independent adults, and preparing for careers and vocations.
• The Emerson-Davis Family Development Center:
  Located in Brooklyn, New York, The Emerson-Davis Family Development Center is home to 16 homeless, single parent families with a mental illness and their young children. It is one of many programs operated by the Institute for Community Living (http://www.iclinc.net). Additional information may be obtained from Harvey Lieberman, Ph.D., Institute for Community Living, Inc., 40 Rector Street, New York, NY 10006, (212) 385–3030, ext. 112.
• Postpartum Assistance for Mothers: http://www.postpartumassistance.com
  This group offers education and emotional support to women experiencing postpartum depression and other prenatal and postpartum mood disorders.