ACMH wants to be sure you have access to timely information about current policy issues and advocacy efforts that may be of interest to you, your family or the families you serve.

So we plan to dedicate our current blog space to share ongoing information about a variety of  policy and advocacy issues that may affect children and youth with emotional, behavioral and mental health challenges and their families.

The information posted here will come from a variety of sources including national, state and local community partners and advocacy organizations. ACMH has not extensively reviewed all of the information nor do we advocate for you to take a certain position on any issue. We simply want you to have access to information of interest to you and those that may affect your child or family.

Please feel free to contact us if you have questions, have an issue you would like to share or if you would like to know how to get involved and share your voice of experience to help shape policy issues and improve supports and services for children and youth with emotional, behavioral and mental health challenges and their families.

Current Children’s Mental Health Policy Issues & Advocacy Efforts:

 

June 2018  ARC Michigan Governmental Affairs Update 

Click here to read it  today and get updated information regarding current movement on Michigan Legislation that may affect people with mental health challenges and other disabilities.

5/15/18 MDHHS Weekly Update for the Section 298 Initiative

3/9/2018 MDHHS identifies the pilot sites for the Section 298 Initiative

The selected pilot sites include:

· Muskegon County Community Mental Health (HealthWest) and West MI Community Mental Health
· Genesee Health System
· Saginaw County Community Mental Health Authority

To read the press release regarding the pilots click here or visit MDHHS’s  Section 298 Initiative Page to learn more.

2/1/18 National Policy News- The Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health shared national policy news including highlights of their advocacy work over the past year in their February edition of Federation on The Move – you can visit the FFCMH online to view their newsletter in it’s entirety by clicking here or see their legislative updates below:

FFCMH Legislation and Advocacy:

The Federation actively represents you as part of the Mental Health Liaison Group. The Mental Health Liaison Group (MHLG) is a coalition of almost 70 national organizations representing consumers, parents and family members, advocates, providers, and mental health experts dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness

The Federation through the MHLG expressed support for the Medicaid CARE Act (H.R. 2687). MHLG Letter of Support

The Federation supported the Behavioral Health Coverage Transparency Act of 2017

Sen Warren’s Behavioral Health Coverage Transparency Act

Rep Kennedy’s Behavioral Health Coverage Transparency Act

The Federation kept affiliates up to date on the latest with Mental Health Parity.

MHLG Parity Memo Parity report memo 11 30 17 MHLG

Disparity Analysis click here

Congressional Mental Health Caucus

The mission of the Congressional Mental Health Caucus is to work in a bipartisan manner to raise the visibility for mental health reforms and find solutions to improve mental health care and the delivery of services to those in need. Their latest news section contains the latest stories and links to mental health issues in the news. Click here to learn more.

CHIP Funding

The spending bill that the Senate and House adopted January 22nd, provides six years of federal money for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, a bipartisan creation that furnishes coverage to nearly 9 million children and 375,000 pregnant women.

$124 billion in funding through 2023 was part of the approved spending bill. Federal money will pay for 88% of the programs’s expenses in every sate for the first two years.

SAMHSA’s New Approach

On January 11th, Elinore F. McCance-Katz, MD, PhD, Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use held a call where she read a statement and answered questions about a new approach to EBPs and the Federation was part of that call. The call focused on the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices and SAMHSA’s new approach to implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs)

Read the Statement here.

Report on the State of America’s Children

The Children’s Defense Fund’s new report, The State of America’s Children® 2017, provides a comprehensive look at the status of America’s children in 11 areas: child population, child poverty, income and wealth inequality, housing and homelessness, child hunger and nutrition, child health, early childhood, education, child welfare, juvenile justice and gun violence. The report’s corresponding state factsheets provide one-page summaries of how children are doing in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and nationwide.
State Fact Sheets

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1/25/18 MDHHS Shares Update About Section 298 Initiative:

The Section 298 Initiative is a statewide effort to improve the coordination of physical health services and behavioral health services in Michigan. This initiative is based upon Section 298 in the Public Act 268 of 2016. The Michigan legislature approved a revised version of Section 298 as part of Public Act 107 of 2017.

Under the revised Section 298, the Michigan Legislature directed MDHHS to implement up to three pilot projects to test the integration of publicly-funded physical and behavioral health services. The department posted a Request for Information (RFI) to select the pilot sites on December 20th, 2017.

As part of the RFI process, MDHHS collected questions from interested applicants and other stakeholders on the content within the RFI. MDHHS has developed responses to each of these questions, and these responses have been posted on the State of Michigan’s procurement website. The department also posted a PDF version of the responses on the project website, which can be accessed through the following link:

www.michigan.gov/stakeholder298

Interested applicants must submit their applications through the website by February 13, 2018. MDHHS will evaluate each informational response that meets all of the minimum mandatory requirements utilizing an evaluation process. MDHHS will use the results of the evaluation process to select up to three pilot projects in compliance with Section 298 of Public Act 107 of 2017. The anticipated notice of the pilot decision is February 28, 2018. The department is aiming to implement the pilots and demonstration model by July 1, 2018.

For more background on the Section 298 Initiative and the RFI for the pilots, visit www.michigan.gov/stakeholder298.

1/23/18 Michigan Council on Crime and Delinquency shared the following in their January Raise the Age Newsletter: Ingham County Commissioners Adopt Raise the Age Resolution

Visit MiCCD to learn more about what’s new in the Raise the Age Initiative and Juvenile Justice reform in Michigan by clicking here.

The Ingham County Commission adopted a resolution during their final 2017 meeting in December, urging the Michigan Legislature to pass the “Youth in Prison” package. The resolution, which was reported out of the Law & Courts Committee with a unanimous recommendation, included a call for an appropriate state funding mechanism. This resolution, and its successful adoption, was driven by local raise the age partners, Michigan Power To Thrive (MPTT) and the Lansing ACLU. The full resolution can be found here.

The Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee Report to Congress
The Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee released its 2017 Report to Congress on December 15th. This report, The Way Forward: Federal Action for a System That Works for All People Living With SMI and SED and Their Families and Caregivers, shines the spotlight on critical issues and services for Americans with serious mental illnesses (SMI) and serious emotional disturbances (SED), and the importance of concerted efforts by the federal government to address their needs. Visit The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) website to view the announcement and download the report by clicking here.

The ARC Michigan December 2017 Governmental Affairs Update This months’s ARC update contains information about current house and senate bills regarding the definitions regarding the use of seclusion and restraint;  pilot programs to integrate Medicaid behavioral health with managed health care plans; Information about Michigan Department of Health & Human Services revised plan for implementing the Section 298 pilots; and information regarding Lt. Governor Brian Calley’s has announcement about a new report from the Special Education Reform Task Force; Michigan’s Medicaid office’s proposed policy bulletin on provider fitness criteria which would have had a serious impact on consumers’ ability to receive peer counselor and support services; and The Medical Services Administration’s proposed policy creating a new Medicaid Provider Manual chapter for Home and Community Based Services and the final bulletin making updates and revisions to the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment program.

MDHHS Releases Update on the Section 298 Initiative & White Paper on Section 298 Pilots.  Learn more by visiting MDHHS’s project page by clicking here or by downloading the recently released white paper today: MDHHS_White_Paper_on_the_Section_298_Pilots_

Juvenile Justice Policy Issues & Advocacy Efforts:

Michigan Juvenile Justice Collaborative October/November 2017 Newsletter

YJAM Events Promote Awareness Statewide
During October and November, nearly 400 people attended events in Holland, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Detroit, Ann Arbor and Flint to learn about Michigan’s dangerous practice of prosecuting youth as adults. Now, the Raise the Age campaign is calling on its participants to take action.
Read more here

It’s More Than Time to Raise the Age in Michigan
In a new op-ed by Public Policy Associates, Inc. president, Paul Elam and Michigan Council on Crime and Delinquency’s executive director, Mary King, presents the question, why hasn’t Michigan raised the age yet? Read more here

Washtenaw County Commissioners Adopt Raise the Age Resolution
Teens from The Michigan Juvenile Justice Youth Advisory Board (YAB) appeared before the Washtenaw County Commissioners on November 15, 2017 to promote a resolution urging the Michigan Legislature to pass the Youth in Prison package. The resolution was adopted unanimously (two commissioners were absent), and included a call for an appropriate state funding mechanism.
Read the full resolution here.

R-Street Institute Covers Raise the Age
In a new policy short, Christina Delgado, the Justice Policy Manager from R-Street, a Washington D.C. think tank, and Sara Wycoff McCauley, President of Strategic Policy Consultants, look at Michigan’s ongoing debate over efforts to “raise the age” for adult criminal prosecution, weighing the proposed policy against the impact current practices have on parental rights, public safety goals and the employability of youth. Read more here

Ypsilanti Teen to Speak at Federal Hearing on ‘School-to-Prison’ Pipeline
An Ypsilanti teen will speak at a U.S. Commission on Civil Rights hearing regarding federal laws protecting students of color with disabilities from discriminatory school discipline policies. DaQuann Harrison, 18, a 2017 graduate of Ypsilanti Community Schools, was invited to join the Dignity in Schools campaign to speak during public comment at the Civil Rights Commission hearing on Dec. 8 in Washington, D.C.
Read more here

Michigan Court Debates Over Teen Prison Civil Rights
The question of whether the state can be held liable for teens raped in Michigan prisons may turn on a constitutional question: Do prisoners forfeit their civil rights in Michigan when they enter prison?
Read more here

Human Impact Partners Reveal Health Impacts of Raising the Age in Michigan
Human Impact Partners, a national public health agency out of California, just released a new report “Raise the Age: Protecting Kids and Enhancing Public Safety in Michigan” to help support juvenile justice reformers in Michigan! This report is bringing a public health perspective into Michigan’s campaign to pass Raise the Age legislation in Michigan. Read more here

Kids Count Report Shows Number of Kids Affected by Parental Incarceration
Close to 6 million kids in America have experienced losing a parent to prison or jail at some point in their lives – and this number is growing. Nationwide, this population has increased by 636,000 children since 2011-2012. Read more here

 

 

Parenting a child with mental health challenges can be challenging as well as rewarding! Having practical tools and strategies to help you and your child be successful along the way can be very helpful.

ACMH wants to help ensure that you have access to all the tools, tips and strategies you may need so we created this page to share resources that you may find useful.

As Michigan’s Statewide Family Organization we receive a lot of information about online training and resources from community partners and others and would like to use this page to share them with you. You can access the resource page by clicking here.

Resources that are helpful for one child and family may not work for another so we will share any we think may be useful and you can decide what might be helpful to you.

We hope you find something that meets your needs! Be sure to check back often as we will be adding resources and information about training opportunities as we receive them.

ACMH would like to take a moment today to thank all of you for your involvement, support & partnership throughout the year and wish you and your families a bountiful harvest of love, laughter and happiness that make this time of year so special!

We couldn’t spread the word about the importance of children’s mental health and move toward our goal that all children and youth with mental health challenges and their families live in welcoming communities with access to needed support and services without you!

We are truly grateful to have you as a part of the ACMH family ~ Happy Thanksgiving

This year’s event highlighted the importance home, community and especially youth and family voice and choice in reaching successful outcomes for children and youth with mental health needs and their families.

This year’s conference had almost 100 participants from 20 counties across Michigan including parents, youth, community partners, young adults and Parent and Youth Peer Support Specialists.

The information packed day included a morning plenary, outstanding youth and parent keynotes and nine break-out sessions with topics such as: The Future of Family & Youth Driven Care & the Peer Movement; Youth Peer Support Services – One-On-One & In Groups; Families as Leaders in Children’s Mental Health…Following Families Down the Yellow Brick Road; Community Exposure Initiative; You’re Worth More than Gold: Strategies to Build Self Esteem for Youth at Home; MI Parent Support Partner Project- Family Driven from Inception to Evaluation; Intro to Youth Leadership: Using Your Voice and Experience to Create Change; and Finding Parent & Caregiver Voice Within the Juvenile Justice System.

Participants shared that they felt they were leaving the conference with a better understanding of the importance of family and youth voice and choice and that they gathered relevant information felt that they could use in their life and communities. A few comments from our participants include:

• Outstanding, relevant, useful sessions!
• Overall feeling of hope because of profound youth and family voices!
• I loved all of it! I can’t wait to take these things I learned into my community.
• This conference is very informational and I recommend it to other organizations, non-profits, schools and other agencies.
• Great conference I am glad that youth were able to be a part of panel and discussion!
• Very informational- enjoyed every session!
• Thank you for providing a scholarship for a youth from our community. They had a wonderful time and are excited to share what they have learned!

ACMH would like to send a special thank you to both of our plenary session speakers including our parent keynote speaker and the young people who shared their wisdom and experience with our audience at the lunch session. Participants were especially moved and inspired by these two sessions as you can see from the comments we received:

• Very hopeful! Speakers had so much courage to share their stories. Inspiring!!
• Highlighted importance of youth voice & supporting families. Gave hope!
• Some of the most inspiring speakers I’ve seen in a long time!
• Speakers very inspirational and offered tremendous hope!
• Awesome job! Thank you for sharing the story of your family’s journey & achievements.
• Great to hear youth voice and perspectives!
• Thank you to the youth for sharing their experiences! Children and youth voice counts and they want and need to be heard!
• How important it is to youth to have a voice! I learned how youth voice can advance the treatment process in positive ways.
• Helpful to hear how and what the youth did and figured out what was helpful and how to move forward seeking the help they needed.
• Excellent! I better understand the important role of youth voice; They gave me hope and inspiration!

ACMH would also like to send another special thank you to all of our our speakers and participants! Our conference could not be a success without each and everyone one of you and we appreciate you spending the day with us. A quote from the Wizard of Oz says it all “It’s not there you go, it’s who you meet along the way!” and we are so fortunate to have met all of you.  Hope to see you all next year!

ACMH is thrilled to announce that Lorrin Gehring, a national expert in youth & family engagement, will be helping us to kick off our plenary session at this year’s conference! Lorrin is a passionate leader and advocate with over 15 years of experience working within youth & family serving systems. At 14 she began advocating for youth voice and choice within the systems that serve them. Lorrin has served in a variety of roles as a national consultant on issues of youth engagement and has provided support to system of care communities throughout the country helping them build and support youth engagement & leadership for the young people they serve. Lorrin has also worked for the National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health where she planned the Federation’s first ever youth advocacy track at their annual conference. We are so pleased to have Lorrin join our program and know you won’t want to miss this opportunity so register today by visiting http://www.acmh-mi.org/events/acmh-annual-conference/.

ACMH is pleased to welcome our friends from DHHS at this year’s conference for their presentation “Families as Leaders in Children’s Mental Health~ Following Parents & Youth Down the Yellow Brick Road.” Register today to take part in this and other great learning opportunities! http://www.acmh-mi.org/events/acmh-annual-conference/.

Guest Blogger- Sara Reynolds, Youth Peer Support Lead Trainer

I’m very pleased to announce that the first Youth Peer Support pilot training has been completed, and there are now five brave and compassionate individuals providing the service for the first time in Michigan. What a momentous event! I feel so overwhelmingly grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the development of this new service that will positively affect outcomes for youth involved in the Pre-Paid Inpatient Health Plan/Community Mental Health Service Provider system.

My journey into peer support began when I became a Certified Peer Support Specialist. It was a very gratifying work, but I’m in my early twenties, and there was a large age gap between myself and the peers I supported that oftentimes couldn’t be ignored. I was able to forge supportive relationships with those peers that were older, but I couldn’t help but think how being a peer could be beneficial to younger individuals.

After all, I was a youth when my mental health symptoms first presented themselves, which began my foray into the mental health system. Being diagnosed with a gamut of mental health disorders including Bipolar and Generalize Anxiety Disorder, I felt that no one could possibly understand the pain that I went through on a daily basis. I didn’t have anyone to talk to – not even my few friends in school could understand why everyday life was difficult for me. If I just had one person who could listen and really hear me… it could have made all the difference in my journey to building tools of resilience.

Around the very same time that I began considering how peer support could be great for youth, I noticed a job posting for a Youth Peer Support lead trainer through Association for Children’s Mental Health. I couldn’t believe it! Youth Peer Support! It was exactly what I wanted to do. I had to apply. Thankfully, I got the job, and while it has been hard work, it really has been a dream. I can actually help implement a service that will support youth that are where I was back then!

There is such a great need for Youth Peer Support. The service can provide better outcomes for youth, increased engagement in services, more interest in building resiliency skills, including system navigation, self-care, and self-advocacy tools, all of which are preventative of worsening symptoms. I think that if I had a Youth Peer Support Specialist, I’d have been able to start getting better, quicker. Not only can Youth Peer Support be supportive of youth, but also families, communities, and systems in so many ways. It is likely the Youth Peer Support Specialists will see some benefits from providing the services too!

Youth Peer Support is state plan service defined in the Michigan Medicaid Manual and is provided through the Pre-Paid Inpatient Health Plan/Community Mental Health Service Provider system by individuals that are between the ages of 18 and 26, and have experience receiving mental health services. Youth Peer Support Specialists have an integral place among the treatment team. I look forward to growing the number of Youth Peer Support Specialists throughout the state, and watching Michigan youth flourish.

Along with Youth Peer Support, we wanted to include a place for youth to go when they are looking for a peer experience online – thus we have created the Youth Page, right here on ACMH’s website. We’ve included some great features to this page: the graffiti wall: a place where youth from throughout their space can submit their artistic expression through any medium they prefer, an “ask the expert” section for youth with questions about resilience, and a plethora of links and videos from people that inspire us to keep going. Please take a moment to check out our youth page and share it with those you think might be interested!

– Sara Reynolds, Youth Peer Support Lead Trainer

January 05, 2016 by Terri Henrizi Leave a Comment (Edit)

It has been almost a full year now since we first launched ACMH’s new website and we hope that you have found at least some portion of it useful! We are excited to have met last’s year goal for the website which was to create a ‘sense of community and connectedness’ for families of children & youth with mental health challenges across Michigan and enhance their access to timely, relevant information that meets their needs.

We have learned a lot over the last year and are excited to be bringing new features to the site in the upcoming year including new content, regular blog posts, family leadership & advocacy tools, an updated Youth Page, additional training & interactive options and much, much more!

Remember ~ we need you to continue to make the site a success so please feel free to make posts, ask an expert, share your wisdom and provide hope and inspiration to others! Thank you again to all of the parents, youth and community partners who have interacted with and made suggestions for the site. We could not have success without your input, ideas and interaction! We would also like to thank the Flinn Foundation for providing the funding for this online adventure and Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services, the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration for their ongoing support and funding of ACMH activities including ACMH’s electronic resources!

The launching of the new ACMH website was not the only exciting thing happening in 2015 however… We also saw the birth of Youth Peer Support as a Medicaid reimbursable public mental health service in Michigan! Michigan’s Youth Peer Support Project is a Statewide Initiative in partnership with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and provides Medicaid reimbursable Youth Peer Support to eligible youth as a part of their treatment plan. ACMH is the Statewide Coordinator & Training Partner for the project and provides initial training and ongoing coaching, supervision, support and technical assistance.

The goals of Youth Peer Support include supporting youth empowerment, assisting youth in developing skills to improve their overall functioning and quality of life, and, working collaboratively with others involved in their youth care. Youth Peer Support services can be in the form of direct support, information sharing and skill building.

The Youth Peer Support service is provided by trained youth peer support specialist. Youth Peer Support Specialists must have lived experience navigating behavioral health systems and must participate in and complete the approved Michigan Department Health and Human Services training curriculum.

ACMH has been a long time supporter of family peer-to-peer support and know the value of this unique type of support. We are excited to see enhanced opportunities and outcomes for the youth involved in public mental health services as this service and support grows across Michigan! For a first hand introduction to this new initiative click Intro to Youth Peer Support to download a blog entry from one of our Youth Peer Support Project Trainers. To learn more details about the project and youth peer support click here.

We hope that you and your families also had a successful and happy 2015 and are excited as we are to see what 2016 has in store.

Happy New Year!

I can’t tell you how exited we at ACMH are to welcome you to the new ACMH web page. I thought it might be helpful to use this very first blog entry as a way to tell you what we hoped the site would offer when we started off on this grand venture. Later this area will host guest bloggers including parents, youth, community partners and other ‘experts’ in children’s mental health who wish to share their wisdom.

For years we at ACMH have wrestled with the reality that even though we know how incredibly valuable easy access to information and connection to other families who have ‘been there and done that’ is to families of children and youth with mental health challenges; The stark reality is that there will never be enough people, time or dollars to make information and individual family-to-family support readily available to all families across Michigan.

There are over 2 million children under the age of 18 in Michigan and of those 2 million at least 200,000 are children living with a significant mental health disorder. While ACMH has supported thousands of families raising children and youth with emotional, behavioral, or mental health needs across the state in its 27-year history, there are thousands of others that still need support.

We wanted to find a way to increase our capacity to provide statewide parent support education and advocacy in the areas across Michigan where we are not and hope our new website gives us a way to at least have an electronic means to reach out and offer information, connection and support on an on-going basis.

By increasing the number of families who are able to access ongoing information and support on our website, we hope to one step closer to our overarching goal and mission, that All Michigan children and youth with emotional, behavioral, or mental health disorders and their families live in a safe and welcoming community with access to needed services and supports.

Our main goal for the new website was to create a ‘sense of community and connectedness’ for families of kids with mental health challenges in an effort to help them to feel less alone, more supported and hopeful, as well as, give them easy access to timely, relevant information that meets their needs.

We wanted a visit to our site to feel like sitting down with a fellow parent who has “been there, done that.” We tried to take a parent-to-parent approach throughout the site and provide the same types of information you might find while sitting down to coffee with a group of families or attending a support group. We understand that no website can ever replace or compete with real life ‘live’ connections but wanted to have an alternative available for those times and situations when you cannot easily access in-person support.

ACMH understands that a unique connection is formed between parents/caregivers who have walked the walk, experienced blame, shame or the immobilizing fear of not knowing how to help their child, those who have experienced the process of coming to terms with parenting a child with significant mental health needs and those who have found their voice and triumphed. This unique connection has helped hundreds, maybe thousands gain the skills, knowledge, and abilities they need to meet the day-to-day challenges of raising a child with mental health needs. ACMH wants to help families have access to connections!

ACMH also understands that families of children with mental health issues face challenges every day—from behavioral outbursts to homework struggles to navigating the complexities of basic social situations. Sometimes just getting kids off to school, dinner on the table or the kids to bed without incident is considered a major triumph! So when families are searching for information and/or support, finding it should be simple. This new website will allow us to be available to families when they need us, even if the only free time they have is 11 p.m. or in the middle of the night after a crisis when they need a little information or reassurance.

Other Goals of the Website Include, Creating:

• An interactive online community with real time opportunities for families to come together, share information and get support. We wanted the site to have places for you to contribute hoping you’ll feel like an integral ongoing part of the ACMH family and what we do.
• A venue that will help to reduce the stigma associated with mental health issues by continuing to raise awareness about children’s mental health and the real issues that youth and their families face.
• A platform for parents and youth to share their story and expertise with others as a way to inform, reduce stigma and ‘normalize’ situations others are facing.
• The capability to host online trainings for family members, community partners and staff.
• A place for feedback where families and others can tell us how we can better serve them and support their needs!

We also hope our site can help you to find the tools you need to better advocate for yourself or your family and empower you to become strong advocates for children’s mental health in your community.

We would like to offer a special heartfelt thanks to the Flinn Foundation for providing funding for us to work with a website company to design and create our new site with all of the wonderful interactive options it contains for families and youth.

We would also like to thank Michigan’s Department of Community Health and SAMHSA, the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration for their ongoing support and funding of ACMH activities and electronic resources such as our Website!

We would also like to send a special thank you out to all of the parents, youth and community partners who gave us input on what would be most useful to them on the ACMH website. We could not have created this without your input and ideas!

We will continue to ask all of you for your feedback as we travel along on this great adventure. We will need to know what portions of the site you like, what is missing and what you would like to see more of. The site also provides us with an opportunity to post weekly polls and surveys to get ‘your take’ on important issues, as well as, real time interactive opportunities to meet and share information about important issues related to children’s mental health. We will be counting on all of you to help make our online and real time interactive opportunities to connect to other families and youth a reality.

I’m excited to share that the website has some awesome features that will allow you to easily interact with the website on an ongoing basis. We invite you to share your thoughts and your wisdom, ask questions and provide hope and inspiration to others. There are several parts of the site where you can share including: Ask the Expert, the Manual, Online Discussions, and the Youth Page where young people can showcase creative writing, artwork or photography. You can also join us as a Guest Blogger.

Please know that this website was created for you! We want it to meet your needs and for you to feel like you are a part of it’s success. So please be sure to let us know your thoughts and participate. With your help we can reach our dream to have an online community that connects, supports, inspires, and provides hope and that authentic family-to-family support that we all know is so valuable!

Again, welcome everyone and please enjoy exploring the site!