The Federation on the Move
February 2021 Newsletter
Share YOUR Ideas by February 5th!
The National Family Support Technical Assistance Center (NFSTAC) invites you to complete their Input Survey to gather ideas about how the NFSTAC can best support families who have children - of any age - who experience mental health and/or
substance use challenges during their lifetime AND the organizations
and individuals who support them.
Who Should Participate?
·    Parents and Primary Caregivers
·    Family Members
·    Professionals Supporting Families
·    Mental Health and Substance Use Organizations
·    Educators and School Staff
·    Family-Serving System Partners
·    Advocates for Family Voice

The survey will close on Friday, February 5th.
Your input is appreciated and will guide the work of the NFSTAC team!
Call for Presentations
That's right! We are hoping for the best - being together in person - and planning to move forward with our annual conference in Chicago this fall. We will continue to follow the COVID-19 case trends and vaccination progress and will adjust our plans if needed.
In the meantime, it's time to start planning!

We are seeking workshop proposals that will provide information on the following content areas: 
  • Collaboration and Integration of Services Across Multiple Systems
  • Collaboration with State and Local Policy-Makers
  • Co-Occurring Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders
  • Engaging Youth and Young Adults
  • Evidence-Based Practices
  • Family/Caregiver Peer Support Across the Lifespan
  • Family Peer Workforce Development
  • Family-Run Organizational Development and Sustainability
  • Mental Health and Substance Use Parity
  • Providing Services and Outreach in the Digital Age
  • Research to Practice
  • Strategies for Addressing Specific Diagnoses
  • Strategies for Reducing Bias and Discrimination
  • Supports for Special Populations 
  • Trauma Informed Care
  • Youth Leadership

Our Call for Presentations is open until April 30th.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Awareness Week
The 2021 Children's Mental Health Awareness Week campaign theme is "Flip the Script on Mental Health." We are developing new tools and media to help you promote Awareness Week in your own community. Find this year's Facebook cover below and download it to use on your own personal or organization Facebook page. Soon we will share the 2021 Family Activity Calendar to help engage youth and families in
Awareness Week. New this year, the calendar will include direct links to activity ideas and
educational information. Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks and visit
the Awareness Week webpage for updated tools and resources you can use
to "Flip the Script on Mental Health" in your homes, organizations and communities.
Welcome New Affiliates
We're excited to welcome the following affiliates to our network. We encourage you to learn more about them and to send a warm welcome to our newest chapter leaders.
Recovery Warriorz
Tawanna D. Jackson, Founder



Sassy Moms Helping Other Mothers Successfully
Kandy Parker, Director


Standing Tall
Dora Wright, Chapter Leader

Stronger Together
Amber Wilkes, Chapter Leader
Legislation and Advocacy
Focus on Parity
Parity is at the forefront as we enter 2021. To help you enhance your knowledge and resources about parity, we will will focus on it in the next few newsletters. This month we want to introduce you to ParityTrack.

ParityTrack is a national leadership coalition founded in January 2014 and led by Patrick J. Kennedy (former Democrat member of the U.S. House of Representatives [RI], and founder of the Kennedy Forum), the lead sponsor of the Federal Parity Law. The coalition's mission is to ensure that all individuals with mental health conditions, substance use disorders, and developmental disabilities have access to the treatment they deserve through full implementation of federal and state behavioral health insurance laws.

What ParityTrack can provide:

This is a national registry where those that have been denied coverage for a mental health or addiction service log their information. Logging your experience helps them to understand the current trends and circumstances surrounding mental health and addiction claim denials. Please fill out this survey if you, a family member, or your patient has experienced a denied claim for mental health and/or addiction services. The information you provide will help to shape public policy and influence legislation in order to move us towards full parity implementation and mental health equity.
Get the Latest News
To get the latest news, follow our Legislative and Advocacy page on Facebook

You will also find information on our Legislative and Advocacy web pages
about national and state advocacy organizations and tools and resources
that can assist in your efforts to represent the voice of families.
Webinar and Training Highlights
There are far too many events for us to capture in the newsletter each month.
While we have highlighted a few below, we highly encourage you to visit our
webinars and events page for a more complete listing. We update the page
regularly and welcome submissions from our network of affiliates and other organizations. Please include a weblink and contact person with any submissions.
Title: Providing Trauma-Informed Supervision
Date/Time: Thursdays, February 11-March 11, 2021, 1:00 - 2:15 pm ET

Providing trauma-informed supervision is critical to fostering employees' personal and professional development, enhancing clinical skills, implementing best practices, ensuring accountability, promoting self-care and wellness, and most importantly,
improving client outcomes.

Trauma-informed supervision is especially relevant in settings where staff serve clients who are likely to have histories of trauma exposure and staff often experience secondary trauma exposure through their clinical work.

Trauma-informed supervision helps supervisors create an atmosphere of safety, trust, choice, and collaboration in the workplace, which both benefits staff and serves as a model for how staff treat clients. Whether you’re experienced, new, or not yet a supervisor, you are invited to explore trauma-informed supervision – what it is, why it matters,
how to use its frameworks and skills to enhance supervisory practice, and how to
employ specific strategies to help staff thrive in their work.
Date/Time: Wednesday, February 3, 2021, 1:00 - 2:30 PM ET

SSI for children can provide critical support to families who are experiencing or at-risk of homelessness. Establishing a child’s eligibility for SSI benefits requires engagement with various child-serving systems such as education, behavioral health, child welfare, and juvenile justice. Building relationships with these systems and engaging the entire family in the process is critical to submitting a successful SOAR-assisted child SSI application.
On this webinar, you will hear from seasoned SOAR providers who are having great success building relationships with families and professionals from child-serving systems in their communities. You will learn how to collaborate with medical providers to effectively document the child’s disability. Presenters will share their strategies on how to engage families and children using trauma-informed principles and promoting racial equity.
Title: COVID-19 Lessons Learned by Leadership
Date/Time: Thursday, February 4, 2021, 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. ET

From process and regulatory changes, to shifts in funding and care modalities, the pandemic has forced leaders and their teams to adapt and innovate. Although the end of COVID-19 is not yet in sight, the past year has provided several lessons to consider as we enter 2021. Attend this panel-style webinar to hear three health care executive leaders and Maria Samot, senior vice president of content at Relias, reflect on critical
aspects of the pandemic; discuss key learnings from 2020; and
forecast challenges and opportunities ahead.
Our state chapter in Nevada, Nevada PEP, is offering a number of webinars covering a variety of topics in February that support parents, caregivers, families and their children as well as the professionals who support them. Click the button below to view their calendar, see titles and descriptions and to register for this month's webinars.
Title: Lighting the Way to Family Resilience
Date/Time: Thursday, February 4, 2021, 8:00 PM - 9:15 PM ET

This session, for parents of younger children, will support and strengthen feelings of confidence and competence within the family. Families will be offered tools to create a hopeful lens to see and support their children.
Title: Educating Your Child with Mental Health Needs: Special Education
Date/Time: Tuesday, February 9, 2021, 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM ET

This workshop focuses on the challenges students with mental health needs may experience with distance learning, including hybrid models, and offers strategies for using the IEP to provide support and instruction.
Title: How Parents Can Effectively Communicate with the I.E.P. Team
Date/Time: Thursday, February 11, 2021, 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM ET

Are you effective when advocating for your child at IEP team meetings? Are you able to ask clarifying questions or speak up if you disagree with what the school is proposing? This interactive workshop will help parents build more effective
communication skills with their child’s IEP team.
Title: PAX Tools for School@Home Workshops
Date/Time: Multiple Dates and Times Available Beginning March 2nd
Resource and Opportunity Highlights
From Families for Depression Awareness
Tips for Getting Teens and Parents to Talk
Asking a teen how they are doing can seem futile when all you get back is, "I'm fine." You know there is more going on under the surface. How can you get them to open up? You can start by making sure that both the adult AND the teen know how to create and participate in safe and supportive conversations - see the article buttons below. After one or both of you have read your article, sit down
to discuss ways you can make it easier to talk in the future! 
Caregiver Stress Test

Take this stress test to get a better understanding of your stress level and learn what you can do to manage the stress in your life.This test, called the Perceived Stress Scale, is anonymous and confidential. It only takes a few minutes. After you answer the 10 questions, you will receive your results along with links to helpful caregiver resources.
From Family Voices
New Telemedicine Curriculum

As part of its 2020 CARES Act Telehealth Award from HRSA (Health Resources and Services Administration), Family Voices created a Telemedicine Curriculum titled the Nuts and Bolts of Telemedicine: Essentials for a Family-Centered Experience.

The curriculum includes four webinars:
  1. Are you Connected?
  2. Do you Have a Device?
  3. Can You “See” Your Provider?
  4. Your Family’s First Telemedicine Appointment.

There is a recording of each webinar that serves as a train-the-trainer so presenters can familiarize themselves with the information. There is an accompanying set of PowerPoint slides and talking points, in English and Spanish, that presenters can use “as is” or adapt to best meet the needs of the families they serve. Additionally, there are supplemental materials including Barrier Busters, telehealth definitions, Family-Centered Telehealth declaration, Rights and Responsibilities and Worksheets for Telehealth appointments.
From Pathways RTC
New Interactive Module on Exploring Strengths with Young People
 This learning module from Pathways RTC depicts a provider guiding a young adult through a conversation about strengths. Youth and young adults who are participating in mental health services are often asked about their strengths, and they report that this can be an awkward and uncomfortable conversation to have. However, when done correctly, a strengths conversation can be a positive and engaging experience, as well as a good opportunity for a provider to find out what a young person finds motivating, enjoyable and worthwhile. The module provides examples of successful ways to talk with young people about their strengths,
as well as examples of some not-so-successful ways.
From Magellan Healthcare
Resources for Managing Anxiety
Many people are experiencing mixed emotions about the COVID-19 vaccine or are feeling anxious about the recent events. Below are tips to help you understand and manage your fears, help children deal with traumatic events, and
know when you or someone close might need help.