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May 3, 2023

The Ally: Awareness is Not Enough
 

As families, the biggest and most frustrating problems we often face are systems that don't respond to our children—sometimes even breaking the law while doing so—and services that don't meet our children's needs. It's even more frustrating when others blame us and our children when systems and services don't work.

May is Mental Health Month, and the National Federation of Families has changed the focus of the second week in May from Children's Mental Health Awareness Week to Children's Mental Health Acceptance Week.

Acceptance is about other people accepting our children and seeing their strengths. Acceptance is about other people respecting our children's rights and recognizing our children should have the same opportunities to succeed that others do. Acceptance is about other people realizing that we know our children better than anyone and that we and our children understand what is important to us as we define good mental health in our families. Acceptance is about other people not blaming us as parents but respecting our expertise and treating us as partners.

In short, acceptance is about ending discrimination against our children and us. Acceptance is about working with us and our children to create the services and supports we know will help.

We are excited to go on the journey from awareness to acceptance with all of you and will share information and ideas to reflect on throughout the month. We want to hear your thoughts too. You can email us at info@faams.org or call 601-355-0915.

Please check out our blog posts and events calendar for many opportunities this month to explore mental health and move from awareness to acceptance. On May 4 at noon CDT we will have our regularly scheduled Drop-In Family Support Time. I hope you will also attend the Mississippi Planning and Advisory Council virtually or in person on May 11 at 10:00 a.m. CDT.

Joy Hogge signature

NEWS
 
Judge Carlton Reeves held a virtual status conference regarding the third monitoring report in the United States v. Mississippi mental health lawsuit on April 26, 2023. We will share a transcript of the call when it is available. Dr. Michael Hogan is the court-appointed monitor in the lawsuit.
 
May is Mental Health Month, and several national organizations share helpful resources. We encourage you to explore the following: Our parent organization, the National Federation of Families, has, for many years, coordinated the second week in May as Children's Mental Health Awareness Week.
 
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Office of Recovery announced that it is hosting a series of webinars during Children's Mental Health Week. Guest speakers include Barbara Huff, Barb Scheidegger, FREDLA, Youth ERA, NAMI, Federation of Families, and Youth MOVE.

EVENTS
 
Mississippi Families for Kids is proud to invite you to the upcoming virtual Black Family Symposium. This symposium is a chance for our community to come together to discuss issues affecting the Black community, make changes collectively, and prepare for the fall Black Family Summit.
 
Join Art Cernosia, Esq. as he reviews the most important legal cases in special education and early intervention in the recent past. In addition to reviewing the cases, he will reflect upon what they may mean for the field and encourage your questions throughout.
 
This hour is open for any family member to drop in for all or some of the time to share any concerns or get feedback from others about handling different situations. We ask anyone who stops by to respect the confidentiality of the group and not share anything discussed in the group outside of the group.
 
The past few years have taken a toll on the mental health of many across the country, especially youth. In February of this year, the Center for Disease Control released new data showing that "mental health among students overall continues to worsen, with more than 40% of high school students...
 
Learn about how Children's Mental Health Week was born! Presenters: Barbara Huff, Founding Director of the National Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health and Barb Scheidegger, Executive Director Missouri Families 4 Families
 
On Tuesday, May 9, 2023, Nemours Children's Health will host a virtual convening focused on school-based behavioral health. Invitees will include national pediatric and behavioral health organizations, content experts, federal agency staff and officials, grantees of relevant federal programs.
 
Hear about the importance of strategies and self-reflection tools that can be used for managing self-care. Youth and young adults with broad lived experiences will share inspiring, impactful, and empowering messages of how incorporating self-care practices into their daily lives have supported and...
 
The National Center for Training and Technical Assistance on Child, Youth, and Family Mental Health (NTTAC) is pleased to announce a no-cost System of Care Virtual Summit (SOC Summit) on May 9-11, 2023. The SOC Summit is an opportunity for all children's mental health partners to reunite, renew,...
 
Join NFF as Karl and Kathy Dennis discuss their journey to create acceptance for all children and families through unconditional care and this approach's positive social justice implications. Presenters: Lynda Gargan, Ph.D. - Executive Director, National Federation of Families; Karl and Kathy...
 
This 1-hour zoom meeting is a forum for the STARR community of sites to chat with mental health advocates from NAMI, National Federation of Families, and People USA. They'll share tips on priority initiatives, activities that could use your help, and ideas for how your site can deepen your...
 
Hear from youth about the importance of peers helping peers and what the research shows to support that message.
 
Social Current is proud to host this webinar presented by our Strategic Industry Partner, DCM Associates. It is vitally important to identify the key strategic goals you face, identify the competencies and skills needed to address them, and identify mentors and coaches within your organization.
 
Pat Hunt - FREDLA - What does the research say about Family to Family Peer Support? Susan Stearns - NAMI- What does Parent Peer support look like in implementation? Hugh Davis - Wisconsin Family Ties - A call to action from lived experience!
 
" All Events Due to structural urbanism, rural areas often face a shortage of mental health & medical professionals, limited access to healthcare facilities, and long travel distances to receive care.
 
A national dialogue about the importance of children's mental health to advance social justice for families.
 
Theme – "Steps to Crisis Intervention"Conference Dates: May 18-19, 2023
Location: Hilton Jackson
1001 E. County Line Rd.
Jackson, MS 39211
View Map
 
Presented by the Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities and the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science: Come out a FUN-filled day celebrating individuals with disabilities, their families and friends. Enjoy a day free of judgment and full of support.
 
Family Peer Specialists help clinicians understand and implement best practices to involve family members in support of individuals with mental health and substance use challenges.
 
Technology Tools for Today 2023! How technology helps individuals with disabilities live independent lives.
 
The National Birth Defects Prevention Network (NBDPN) will hold its National Conference from August 14-16, 2023 in Atlanta, GA with a pre-conference training to be held on August 13.

RESOURCES
 

This Mental Health Awareness Month, we are proud to recognize May 1-7, 2023, as Tardive Dyskinesia (TD) Awareness Week to help increase awareness and support people living with this burdensome condition.

Frequently Asked Questions about Rights of Children in Homeless Situations
 
"Nothing about us without us!" We believe that people with lived experience of complex health and social needs and their caregivers are critical voices needed to inform the field of complex care.
 
WALLA WALLA, Wash. - A residency program for aspiring special education teachers beginning this summer aims to address the shortage that local school officials say is happening not only in Walla Walla but across the country.