PPAL's first director, June Gross, decided that reaching parents through support groups and connecting them to one another was a way to find parent leaders. She recruited existing support groups, which were often being run in someone's living room, and tapped leaders to build new groups. Once or twice a year, she would ask those leaders to her own living room for a networking meeting. Her work to find parent voices helped to form the PPAL that you know today!
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PPAL Says Goodbye to Beth Pond
Congratulations on Your Retirement!
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PPAL Board and PPAL staff congratulate Beth Pond on retiring in November 2020. Over the course of her 12 years with PPAL, Beth brought many successes, including starting the medical home project that helped the medical field recognize and support the efforts of mental health needs in the pediatric places. Beth also received recognition for her work, including the amazing advocacy for children by then-Senator Jennifer Flanagan.
Beth was instrumental in supporting and advocating for the Central Massachusetts community. Along with her dedication and hard work, Beth continued to fight for many children during her career at PPAL. Meri Viano, Associate Director of PPAL, remembers when Beth would cover meetings in a pinch, "Beth jumped in one time and attended meetings in locked facilities, went to visit children and families in the Emergency Rooms, and would spend time listening to the most vulnerable youth and young adults that often needed a caring ear. She received the nickname from the young people as Mama Pond. Quite frankly, she is and will continue to be a figure of empathy, caring, and fight!"
Families, youth, staff and providers were fortunate to have Beth's voice! PPAL is fortunate that Beth has continued work with PPAL part-time to support our work in developing new trainings that will be rolling out throughout 2021.
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PPAL Presents at Success Fest
I Am Driving But Still Need an EMERGENCY Kit Presented by Three Diverse Voices
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On February 24, PPAL presented at Success Fest, which was hosted by the Department of Mental Health (DMH). Joel Khattar, Dawn Christie, and Dev Kaplan discussed the importance of establishing healthy boundaries around the paradigm shift between parents and young adults. It was a rich presentation that offered a parent, multicultural and young adult perspective. During the presentation, Dev demonstrated the importance of building and using a tool kit to cope with mental health challenges. Overall, it was a well-received presentation with a lot of positive feedback.
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Focus Group Asks Parents for Input
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On February 4, PPAL hosted a focus group with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). The Massachusetts Safe and Supportive Schools Commission (SASS) was eager to have families give very important feedback and bring the family voice to the conversation. PPAL was happy to have parents in our network share their parent expertise around equitable language on the safe and supportive schools initiative. The parent experts weighed in on language and comprehension around the complexities that school systems face around regulations. They offered insightful advice on how the language should be updated in the documents that would be shared with all the school systems in the commonwealth.
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Reaching Out in Tough Times
PPAL Offers Advice and Insights on Social Media
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Facebook and Instagram are great ways to learn about PPAL events and connect with the PPAL community!
Every Wednesday at 2 PM, the PPAL team goes live with helpful tips and information! You can view our Facebook page here.
Upcoming sessions will include:
- What is PPAL Statewide Anyway?
- Perfect Parent, Parenting Perfectly! Laughable parenting moments.
Past Facebook Lives can be found on our Facebook page and cover many important topics:
- The Importance of Support
- What is PPAL?
- Understanding Support Groups
- Importance of Finding your Passion
- Going to the Emergency Department for a Health Crisis
- Importance of Getting Things in Writing
- How to Talk so Providers Will Listen
- Five Things to Know about the Juvenile Court System
- What to Expect When You Call PPAL
- Telehealth Tips
- Dev's Toolkit
- What Is a FBA, and Why You Might Need One
On Instagram, we continue to post about what's at the heart of PPAL: improving the mental health and well being of children, youth and families through education, advocacy and partnership. Advocacy has been a topic this month, along with "What's your PPAL history." Check out the PPAL stories sharing relatable posts from other organizations.
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February Statewide Meeting
A Conversation about Teens, Depression and the Pandemic
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On Tuesday, February 9, PPAL was happy to host guest speakers Rebekah Gibbons, LCSW, and Valerie Cordero, PhD, of Families for Depression Awareness at our monthly Statewide Conference. They spoke on the important subject of supporting teens living with depression during the pandemic. After introducing Families for Depression Awareness, Rebekah and Valerie spoke about teen depression and pandemic life, caring for the caregiver, strategies for supporting teens, and getting help. They carried us through this difficult topic with much positivity and hope, and our 103 attendees appreciated their knowledge and guidance. Thank you, Rebekah and Valerie!
Please join PPAL at next month's Statewide Conference on March 9, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. to learn about what families need to know about 51As and CRAs during remote learning. For questions and registration, email us or click here to register.
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Dr. Ann Maloney Spoke on Psychopharmacology
in Children & Adolescents
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The Parents of Transition-Aged Youth, PTAY, recently hosted a presentation by
Dr. Ann Maloney, who is Board Certified in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and in General Psychiatry. She is affiliated and a faculty member at UMASS School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry. On February 3, Dr. Maloney presented information about practical psychopharmacology in children and adolescents, and answered participant questions about medications that are used to treat symptoms of mental health diagnoses. She was awesome!
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Mental Health and IEP Learning Series
Opportunity for Parents and Professionals to Learn Together Supported by DMH (Central Mass)
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Over the course of 3 one-and-a-half hour Zoom sessions in January and February, PPAL hosted more than 20 parents and providers to learn about mental health and IEPs. During these sessions, our trainers went over the basic elements of the IEP and answered participants' questions. During the third session, parent advocate Jen Warren and attorney Nicole Cardamone of Community Legal Aid joined us for an expert panel.
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Learning about ADHD for Parents
Recent Session Featured an ADHD Coach
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On February 11th, the Family Network Social Group hosted ADHD coach Brendan Mahan for an informational session. Brendan presented to 11 parents, who commented:
- "I could listen to Brendan all day long"
- "What a great presentation, I learned so much from Brendan!"
You can find Brendan and learn more about his work on his website.
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Will You Help Us Mark the Occasion?
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PPAL is excited to be turning 30 this year! Stay tuned for special events to mark this anniversary!
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