A SAMHSA sponsored webinar developed under contract by the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) and presented by the National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health, took place Wednesday, May 27, 2020 at 2:00pm Eastern Time called Improving Access to Care by Using Creative Support to Address Families Waiting for Services.
Overview: Families across the country have been struggling with long waitlists to access care for their children. The wait for services can vary from 2 to 13 weeks or more depending on the community that a family resides in and their state policy. The waiting period between identifying needed services and accessing the identified services can be a challenging period for families because the need for services cannot be put on hold until services are available. Families begin to look for alternative support in multiple avenues including the internet and social media. Increased access of the internet and social media has increased the accessibility to the state and local family-run organizations. As the state and local family-run organizations become more visible, families are reaching out to these organizations for help during this critical waiting period. This puts the family-run organizations in the nucleus of supporting families in crises. While families wait for identified formal services and supports such as clinical therapeutic supports, in home behavioral services, respite care, family peer support and the availability of psychiatric residential beds, state and local family organizations need to create plans that can support families effectively.
The webinar will bring together the Executive Director of the National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health and the Executive Directors of two state family-run organizations, NC Families United and Parent/Professional Advocacy League to share their perspectives at the national and state level. The presenters will share ideas and tools utilized in various states across the nation to help alleviate parental stress while waiting for formalized services. The webinar will focus on creative measures and tools state and local family support organizations and agencies can apply. Examples of various tools used in North Carolina and Massachusetts will be highlighted. The PowerPoint webinar will include lecture, interactive problem solving, questions and skills building.
Objectives:
1- Participants will be able to identify various tools to help support families, such as the creation of a culturally appropriate tip sheet, development of a local community resource list and the development of a short video identifying natural supports.
2- Participants will understand how a family-run organization can help a family or youth develop a safety plan.
3- Participants will have a knowledge of alternative uses for the internet, social media and “creative app” family support and live chat.
Presenters:
•Gail M. Cormier, CRC, BS., Executive Director, NC Families United
•Lisa Lambert, BS., Executive Director, Parent/Professional Advocacy League
Moderator:
•Lynda Gargan, Ph.D., Executive Director, National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health
If you have any questions please contact Kelle Masten via email at kelle.masten@nasmhpd.org or at 703-682-5187.
**We do not offer CEU credits however letters of attendance are offered upon request.
***Closed-captioning is available for this webinar.