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Bringing Family Lived Experience To You
Accept, Advocate, Act
July 3, 2023 | Volume 1, Issue 9
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Note from the Executive Director
Minority Mental Health Matters!
In June, we celebrated fathers for Men's Mental Health Month. In the family support workforce, men are often a minority. Leaders in the field like Dads MOVE are trying to change that; read how below!
For July's National Minority Mental Health Month, we're bringing you inspiration from NFF affiliates who support diverse families with culturally congruent programming and resources.
NFF and NFSTAC are taking a summer break for events, but we hope you'll watch some of our recorded events from May and June, and give us some feedback on our Office Hour series as we plan for some exciting events starting up again in September!
If you haven't registered for the conference, there's still time to get an early bird price! Make sure to spread the word about reaching families, the family peer workforce, and other stakeholders through sponsorship and exhibiting at our conference to anyone who might be interested!
With hope,
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Lynda Gargan, PhD.
Executive Director, National Federation of Families
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Children's Mental Health:
What Follows Acceptance?
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This month, we're sharing two timely videos from our Children's Mental Health Acceptance Week events. The focus is advocacy. Acceptance demands we advocate and act to change attitudes, behaviors, and systems. But to create that change, we have to learn how to advocate for equity, inclusion, parity, and social justice for families and their children of all ages who are experiencing mental health and/or substance use challenges. | | |
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For Children's Mental Health Acceptance Week, NFF Executive Director Lynda Gargan joined CEO and Founder of People-USA Steve Miccio and Executive Director of NAMI Texas Greg Hansch for the STARR Coalition's roundtable discussion about family advocacy in clinical mental health research. Hear what they think is essential for ACCEPTANCE NOW!
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"Accept. Advocate. Act.
Parents Talk About
For more inspiration, hear from the parent advocates who joined Lynda Gargan on May 18th. It was an empowering conversation about how their own acceptance of their child's challenges set each parent on a path to advocacy. The video has been viewed over 150 times on YouTube in just the past month.
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National Federation of Families News & Highlights | | |
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You can now register for the 2023 NFF Annual Conference in Chicago, IL November 9-11!
Get your ticket now to take advantage of our early bird pricing! Explore our conference webpage to learn more about our theme, focus areas, tracks, and conference site!
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Secure your sponsorship at this year’s National Federation of Families Annual Conference. NFF provides sponsors with numerous opportunities to increase brand visibility, establish thought leadership, and directly access hundreds of potential customers and strategic partners. At our 2022 conference, sponsors reached 755 in-person and virtual attendees from 42 states, Guam, District of Columbia, and Canada.
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Important Update to National Family Peer Specialist Certification Requirements
SAMHSA recently published the National Model Standards for Peer Support Certification. As a result, NFF removed the self-disclosure about criminal history from our certification application and changed our required family peer work experience for national certification from 1,000 hours to 500 hours over the past 5 years. This more closely reflects SAMHSA guidelines for peer certifications. Eleven of the forty-eight states with peer certifications currently require 500 hours of work experience, and we believe this is the minimum number of hours that demonstrates readiness for a national family peer certification.
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Dr. James C. Rodriguez and his team at the Fathers and Families Coalition of America have used their extensive lived experience and expertise as clinicians and family members to create a variety of professional development opportunities and an international conference to increase the knowledge and skills around family mental health and substance use support not only for fathers and families, but also for those who support them. In this webinar recording, learn about the programs that Fathers and Families Coalition of America offers, including specific strategies that Family Peer Specialists, clinicians, and others working in the behavioral health field can use to better support fathers.
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Celebrating Funding for More Father Family Peers at Dads MOVE
Since November of 2022, Dads MOVE has secured funding that has allowed them to quadruple their staff and offer more services to families. Contracts with Washington state's two largest counties, Pierce and King, has allowed the organization to hire 6 peer support specialists, including Family Peer Specialists. Dads MOVE was also awarded SAMHSA's Statewide Network grant, which allowed them to hire an additional 3 staff members in underserved parts of Washington. Recently, the organization has secured $3 million in additional funding to hire a youth peer and teach their state's Certified Peer Counselor Curriculum. In the coming year, Dads MOVE is working on securing a contract to help fathers coming out of incarceration. Congratulations, Dads MOVE! We are so glad you are bringing more fathers and father figures into the family support workforce.
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| QUESTION: How do you support the mental health of historically marginalized populations? | | | |
Responses from June Poll: How do you involve fathers in family mental health support work? | |
In June, many of you told us that you were involving fathers in family mental health support by actively recruiting fathers as staff members! Others are creating programming directed towards fathers, partnering with organizations that work with fathers, and attending community events popular with fathers to share resources. | | |
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New TAC Talk:
Harm Reduction: Reducing the Risks of Substance Use
NFSTAC has collaborated with the Partnership to End Addiction on a series of TAC Talks—short videos to introduce practical strategies to family members of loved ones with mental health and/or substance use challenges. Check out our third TAC Talk about harm reduction.
| NFSTAC invites you to submit requests for free technical assistance from our network of partners and subject matter experts. NFSTAC is driven by the needs of families and the workforce that supports families. You'll find education, training, and family support resources tailored specifically to families, the family peer workforce, communities, healthcare systems, clinicians, and educators. | |
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NFSTAC Events are on
Summer Break!
Thank you for another year of excellent Family Connections, Office Hours, and Webinars. We had so many lived experience, family peer support, non-profit, and behavioral health experts share their wealth of knowledge with us. We are busy planning our 2023-2024 year of events and will be back with our regularly scheduled event series in September!
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Office Hour Series
Feedback Survey
We were excited to see such a high level of engagement in our Office Hour series for Executive Directors and emerging leaders this year. If you attended one, all eight, or any number of Office Hours between, please take our series feedback survey to let us know what you want to see in the 2023-2024 series directed towards the Family Peer Workforce!
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Creating Dad Connections
with "Family Connections"
“Fathering” can be described as someone who responds readily and consistently to a child's developmental needs over time. It's also a movement providing peer support and training for people who may not have had a role model to emulate, fathers who’ve not parented their children, or to simply connect with other fathers.
In June, Family Connections brought together two remarkable dads for two special father-focused events: George Fleming, Allegheny Family Network, and Nelson Rascon, Dads MOVE. Both have made significant contributions to the Fathering movement through education, peer support, and advocacy for fathers across the country. They co-hosted a daytime and our first-ever evening event to reach as many dads and caregivers in different time zones as possible.
We're thrilled by the positive response, and NFSTAC is committed to supporting fathers who face challenges as a parent or caregiver with more to come in the next fiscal year. If you are also looking for ways to support dads in your community, we recommend this new Fatherhood and Father Figures Curriculum from our colleagues at the National Training & Technical Center. Need help for your dads? Contact NFSTAC for no-cost technical assistance.
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Celebrating Our Affiliates! | | |
NFF Affiliates Advance Cultural Congruence Through Programming, Resources, and More
We are so proud to see that so many of our affiliates practice cultural congruence by creating programming, resources, events, and communities that meet the needs of their diverse family populations. We have organizations like PPAL in MA, South FL Wellness Network, and Montgomery County Federation of Families that have events and trainings in Spanish. KY SPIN has a wealth of resources in Spanish. Reach Family Services in AZ not only has Spanish-language programming and resources, but an entire website in Spanish! The Parent Information Center of DE has their website translated into Haitian Creole, Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, Mandarin, Portuguese, and Korean!
The Family Involvement Center in AZ, MD Coalition of Families, and many more of our affiliates offer specialized support to families of LGBTQ+ children.
Many of our affiliates make concerted efforts to recruit staff members that share the culture of the families they support. We couldn't highlight every affiliate advancing cultural congruence but we hope you find some inspiration from those featured above!
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Interested in being a Featured Affiliate?
In August, we'd love to feature YOU! Reach out to dasby@ffcmh.org if your organization has a program, event, or great story to share!
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Legislative & Advocacy News | | | |
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Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (BCBS MN) announced that access to peer support specialists will be a covered benefit starting in 2024 for members enrolled in fully-insured commercial plans. The enhanced coverage comes as SAMHSA recently release new National Model Standards for Peer Support Certification. All peer support specialists covered by Blue Cross will be credentialed according to the new national certification model standards. | | |
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Blue Cross will be the first non-profit plan in Minnesota offering this benefit to those with employer-offered health insurance as well as to those who purchase Individual and Family coverage on their own. BCBS's coverage will encompass the following areas:
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Certified Family Peer Specialists – have raised or are raising a child with a mental health or substance use disorder, providing non-clinical support to strengthen the family and increase parents' ability to support the treatment goals of the child
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Certified Peer Specialists – have had a mental health diagnosis and are available to assist members with their recovery journey
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Peer Recovery Specialists – have had a substance use diagnosis and are available to assist members with their recovery journey
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SAMHSA has identified recovery as a guiding principle in pursuit of its mission to lead public health and service delivery efforts that promote mental health, prevent substance misuse, and provide treatments and supports to foster recovery while ensuring equitable access and better outcomes. SAMHSA’s definition of recovery emphasizes the importance of self-determination and involvement of people with lived experience. Executive Order 14035 requires Federal agencies to promote Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) in the workplace. In keeping with these requirements, SAMHSA has developed a formal policy on the meaningful inclusion of people with lived experience throughout its activities.
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Keep Up with the Latest Legislative News
NFF's Legislation and Policy News for Family Advocates is the place to find the details on the bills, policies, and opportunities for input that family advocates need. Visit for the latest news and releases, proposed legislation and policies, and what's being implemented in both policy and legislation. It's updated monthly to give you the latest information in one place.
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National Minority Mental Health Awareness Resources | | |
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Since 2008, July has been celebrated as the National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month to achieve two goals: 1) Improve access to mental health treatment and services for historically marginalized populations, and 2) Enhance public awareness of mental illness among underserved communities.
Share information, infographics, and resources with the families you support to work towards closing gaps in access to mental health and substance use support for historically marginalized populations.
Read more about NMMHAM in Transformation Care Network's blog "Minority Mental Health Facts You Should Know for Minority Mental Health Month."
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Resources
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HHS's Office of Minority Health's NMMHAM page has info on health disparities, resources, shareables, and more
- The National Network to Eliminate Disparities in Behavioral Health's NMMHAM page has information about Bebe Campbell who inspired the month, suggestions for getting involved, recorded webinars, and more resources to share
- Mental Health America's BIPOC Mental Health page has stats about minority mental health, a toolkit, events to join, and more
- The National Child Traumatic Stress Network's NMMHAM page includes many resources in English and Spanish such as Adapting Trauma-Focused Treatments for Culturally Diverse Populations
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The American Psychiatric Association has several NMMHAM events in the Washington, D.C. area and one online
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African American Behavioral Health Center of Excellence's essay "Why is the Struggle for Behavioral Health Equity so Hard?" is a great read, particularly this month
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SAMHSA's National Model Standards for Peer Support Certification
The National Model Standards for Peer Support Certification, published on June 6th, were developed in accordance with President Biden's national strategy to address the U.S.'s mental health crisis. After a detailed review of current state certification processes and and the convening of a national Technical Expert Panel including NFF Executive Director Lynda Gargan, SAMHSA released these guidelines to encourage alignment across state peer support certifications.
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During Mental Health Month, SAMHSA launched two new websites to increase access to mental health and substance use treatment and support. At FindTreatment.gov, anyone can search by their location to find a list of nearby providers and get access to resources to understand treatment and payment options. At FindSupport.gov, SAMHSA has easy-to-understand information about finding support, coping with behavioral health challenges, helping someone, and more. | | |
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We always have so many great resources to share with you that it's hard to pick just a couple to feature each month. Here are some more from the past few months:
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