Bringing Family Lived Experience To You

Accept, Advocate, Act

March 1, 2024 | Volume 2, Issue 6

Mental health and social justice are two important issues that are closely intertwined. Social justice refers to the fair and just treatment of all individuals, regardless of their background or identity. In this blog post, Natural Appraise on Mental Health explores the intersection between mental health and social justice and discusses ways we can all support mental health within social justice efforts.

We invite you to visit our social justice page to think further about what you can do as an individual or organization to promote social justice for families whose children—of any age—experience mental health and/or substance use challenges during their lifetime. We hope you will use the tools provided there to strengthen your efforts to #AcceptAdvocateAct.

We’re looking forward to Mental Health Month in May and to celebrating Children’s Mental Health Acceptance Week (CMHAW), May 5th - 11th. On Wednesday, May 8th, during CMHAW, Inspiring My Generation will release a new edition of their podcast Normalize the Conversation featuring an interview with NFF's Executive Director, Lynda Gargan.

This is one of many activities and events we are planning to help us light the path to social justice for children and youth and their families by illuminating the importance of mental health acceptance during the month of May. Look for more updates and news in the coming weeks and visit the Acceptance Week page for additional information and resources about what you can do to #AcceptAdvocateAct in your state and/or community.

Our Florida Hosts include:

• The Family Café
• Federation of Families of Central Florida
• Federation of Families Miami - Dade
• South Florida Wellness Network

We welcome proposals from professionals, family members, advocates, and emerging youth and young adult leaders who support the well-being of children—of all ages—and promote family voice. Apply by May 1st to present at our 2024 conference and 35th anniversary celebration in Orlando, Florida this November. We look forward to celebrating with you!

2024 SAMHSA and NFF Webinar Series

This year, we are excited to collaborate with National Alliance on Mental Illness, National Disability Rights Network, and Association of State and Territory Health Organizations to bring you a SAMHSA sponsored webinar series Person-Centered, Family-Driven Mental Health and Substance Use Support: A Path Towards Equity.

As a newsletter subscriber, you will get updates on each event as soon as registration links are available!

Notice of Funding Opportunities: Statewide Family Network Program and Community Programs for Outreach and Intervention with Youth and Young Adults at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis

The purpose of the Statewide Family Network Program is to provide resources that enhance the capacity of statewide mental health family-controlled organizations to engage with family members/primary caregivers who are raising children, youth, and young adults with serious emotional disturbance (SED) and/or co-occurring disorders (COD).



• Application Due Date: Monday, April 8, 2024
• Anticipated Total Available Funding: $1,116,777
• Anticipated Number of Awards: 9

The purpose of the Community Programs for Outreach and Intervention with Youth and Young Adults at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis is to provide trauma-informed, evidence-based interventions to youth/ young adults (up to 25 years of age) at clinical high risk for psychosis to prevent or delay the onset of psychosis and improve the lives of those with psychosis.

• Application Due Date: Monday, April 8, 2024
• Anticipated Total Available Funding: $5,000,000
• Anticipated Number of Awards: 8

Affiliate News

Farewell Beresford Wilson, Welcome Jenny Bridges

After nearly seven years of service as the Executive Director at FAVOR in Connecticut, Beresford Wilson has elected to move on to a new chapter. We wish him well in his next endeavors. We offer a warm welcome to Jenny Bridges, FAVOR's new Executive Director. Jenny has served in multiple roles at FAVOR over the last sixteen years. We know they are in good hands under her leadership and wish her well in her newest role.

Ruth York Retires, Welcome Brenda Willson

Our best wishes to Ruth York who has retired after nearly six years as the Executive Director for FYIdaho. We wish her well-earned rest and relaxation and thank her for her long career dedicated to family advocacy and support. We welcome Brenda Willson, FYIdaho's incumbent Executive Director who brings decades of knowledge and experience collaborating with and supporting Idaho families. 

Other Parents Like Me - New National Partner

Welcome to our newest national partner, Other Parents Like Me—an online parent-to-parent support community designed for parents of teens and young adults struggling with mental health issues. We welcome their CEO, Casie Fariello, and her team to the family and look forward to sharing more about their work. Learn more here.

Bruthas 'Bout Biznis

We're excited to welcome our newest Georgia affiliate, Bruthas 'Bout Biznis (B3) led by its' CEO, Dr. Shannor Huff. B3 offers human services, health and wellness services, and education with a focus on underprivileged population(s), specifically addressing homelessness, mental/physical abuse, societal re-entry, drug dependence, and mental health challenges.

This bipartisan legislation was introduced in the Senate in September by Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Mike Braun (R-IN). The companion House bill was introduced February 1^st by Representatives Andrea Salinas (OR-D) and Tracey Mann (KS-R).

Specifically, the PEER Support Act would:

• Codify the Office of Recovery in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to:
• Train, educate, and support the professional development of peer support specialists—including Family Peer Specialists.
• Research and publish best practice recommendations for the training, certification, and supervision of peer support specialists for employing entities.
• Recommend career pathways for peer support specialists.
• Direct the Office of Management and Budget to revise the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system to recognize peer support specialists as a profession, which would help ensure accurate data reporting on the field.
• Instruct the Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Justice to conduct a study to research states’ screening processes for prospective peer support specialists that may pose undue barriers to their certification and to provide evidence-based recommendations for overcoming those barriers. Many prospective peer support specialists cannot get a certified because of their past interactions with law enforcement related to addiction (i.e. convictions for possession of drugs) prior to recovery, even though their past experience recovering from drug use makes them strong advocates for those who are currently in recovery.

NFF has been able to provide feedback on the bill through Senator Kaine’s and Representative Salinas’s offices and is listed as a supporting organization. We will continue to follow the bills and provide you with updates and calls to action.

Follow our Legislative and Advocacy Facebook page and use the data and facts you learn there in concert with your advocacy skills to represent the voice of families where you live. Get a sneak peak of what's provided in the toolkit by watching the video above.

Person-Centered Resources and Natural Supports

This companion infographic to our February Office Hour explains the key skills Certified Family Peer Specialists master to demonstrate competency in Resources and Natural Supports, the third of the Five Core Competencies for CFPS.

February Event Recordings

Office Hour: Person-Centered Resources and Natural Supports: Strengths-Based Relationship Building with Akia Compton and Anna Jure

Webinar: Communicating Your Superpowers with Laurie Healy

Family Connections: Across the Lifespan: Supporting Parents & Caregivers of Adult Children

March 7th, 1:30 p.m. ET

What does it mean to support a family across the lifespan? The term “lifespan” reflects the roles parenting or caregiving in terms of a lifelong journey, beginning at birth, through different stages, and into adulthood for many families. For many, parenting and caregiving is a lifelong journey that includes their child's adult years.

Office Hour: Systems Knowledge and Navigation: Family Peer Support Across Systems

March 12th, 3:00 p.m. ET

Join us in March to hear from our three subject matter experts about navigating the child welfare system and the justice system, as well as mental health and related systems for transition aged and adult children. In this session, you will gain strategies and resources to successfully support families in family-serving systems.

Webinar: Understanding Moral Injury and the Impact in Supporting Families

March 20th, 2:00 p.m. ET

Moral injury refers to the inner turmoil or distress experienced by the workforce due to ethical conflicts, contradictions of their principles, or feeling unable to provide optimal person-centered support to families because of organization policy. This webinar will give insight into navigating moral injury and increase awareness of more effective tools to support and advocate with families.

Family Room with Sue Badeau

March 21st, 4:00 p.m. ET

A Family Room is often defined as an “informal gathering place for all members of a family” or “a comfortable space.” We hope you find that here. This month's topic is "Social Connections & Networks for Young Adults." Though they may appear more connected through social media, that may not translate to building in-person connections.

FAMILY Partnerships Module

Thank you for your feedback about NFSTAC and BU's course module Partnering with Families in Behavioral Health: The FAMILY Approach! We listened to your ideas, made revisions to the course, and published the final draft of the course in February!

Please share this course designed to strengthen person-centered partnerships between families and behavioral health providers with others in your networks!

Parents Anonymous

California

Our national partner Parents Anonymous Inc. has launched a new National Parent & Youth Helpline. Operated by Parents Anonymous Inc. with trained and caring staff, the helpline offers culturally responsive emotional support and resources to diverse parents, children, and youth nationwide 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, through calls and texts at 855-427-2736 and live chat on nationalparentyouthhelpline.org.

Their National Parent & Youth Helpline™ is committed to accessibility and offers these services in 240 languages, including American Sign Language (ASL), to ensure that anyone who reaches out can receive the support they need.

Parents Anonymous, is doing great work in their state too. If you're in California, connect with them to learn about one of their programs: Strengthening Families San Gabriel Valley, Transforming Los Angeles, CA Peer Parent Network, Family Resource Centers.

Social Work Month in March is a time to celebrate the great profession of social work.

The 2024 theme is Empowering Social Workers!

During March, take time to learn more about the many positive contributions of the profession and use the items in this toolkit to celebrate all the social workers you know.

World Teen Mental Wellness Day is observed on March 2 every year. It was established to raise awareness, decrease discrimination, and spark important conversations around the topic of mental well-being and to make resources available to those experiencing mental health challenges. Learn how you can support teen mental health here.

Upcoming Family Mental Health Events

Pacific SW PTTC's Organizational Elements of Effective Coalitions

March 12th, 12:00 p.m. ET

National Council for Mental Wellbeing's Establishing Strong Peer Support Programs and Practices in CCBHCs

March 14th, 2:00 p.m. ET

Mountain Plains ATTC's Implementing Harm Reduction Strategies in your Organization

March 27th, 1:00 p.m. ET

LGBTQ+ CoE's Advancing Trans Health Equity through Supportive and Protective Environments: Recent Research on Family Support, K12 Experiences, Clinician Interactions, and State Policy

March 28th, 2:00 p.m. ET

NIDA Quiz for Teens: Know the Facts About Overdose

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) released its latest Kahoot! quiz: Know the Facts About Overdose, which aims to test players' knowledge on what causes drug overdoses and how to save a life using naloxone. Pair this engaging, interactive quiz with other NIDA resources focused on substance use prevention and teens, or use as a standalone activity, to spark conversation and action during National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week (NDAFW), March 18–24, 2024. Try and share NIDA's last Kahoot quizzes: Why are Drugs so Hard to Quit? and National Drug & Alcohol IQ Challenge.

SAMHSA's Updated 988 Partner Toolkit

Check out the latest updates in SAMHSA's 988 Partner Toolkit along with new materials to share #988Lifeline  information with your communities. It’s designed to help you better navigate the bank of the materials available for promoting 988 in your community. You can now easily search and filter all 988 materials by target audience, population, language, and resource type, allowing you to find the right materials for your community.

Visit the full National Federation of Families and National Family Support Technical Assistance Center Yearly Events Calendar on our websites!

Share this Research Opportunity with Schools Interested in Improving School Culture

The Compassionate School Leadership Academy (CSLA) prepares school leaders to implement trauma-informed practices in the classroom to address the urgent mental health challenges of children. In addition to studying which areas of school culture are most common in American schools, CSLA offers schools a free assessment of their school culture and personalized training and intervention recommendations to improve specific areas of school culture. Please share this opportunity with schools in your network!