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Parent / Family

Peer Support

Are you a Parent or Caregiver Interested in Receiving Parent Peer Support Services?

 

Parent/Family Peer Support is a peer‐to‐peer approach to working with caregivers of children struggling with emotional, behavioral, and mental health challenges

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  • Provided by a trained caregiver with lived experience 

  • Work individually with families and as part of a team 

  • Regular supervision and access to clinical consultation 

  • Provided in a variety of venues (FREDLA) 

Research suggests that parent peer support offers parents and other caregivers:

 

  • Emotional connection

  • Informational and educational support

  • Support for parents

  • Concrete, task-related support 

  • Living proof of resilience and recovery

  • Providing empathic listening and emotional support

  • Assisting families in navigating systems

  • Supplying information about child‐serving systems, children’s behavioral health, and community resources

  • Rendering advocacy support

  • Encouraging self‐care activities

  • Facilitating caregiver engagement with service providers

  • Modeling collaboration between families and systems

  • Engaging in safety and care planning; exploring and eliminating barriers to care plan follow‐through

  • Offering skill‐building for caregivers that enhances resiliency, communication, advocacy, and other areas affecting the ability to maintain an individual with complex needs in the home, school, and community

WHY?

Why? 
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  • Decreased caregiver stress

  • Increased satisfaction with services

  • Improved Health and Mental Health Outcomes

  • Increased engagement in treatment

  • Increased retention in treatment

  • Decreased costly interventions for example, out of home placements

  • Increased family and youth involvement

WHAT?

What does the research say?
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Research suggests that parent peer support offers parents and other caregivers:

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  • Increased sense of collaboration with trained professionals

  • Increased sense of self-efficacy in their ability to care for their child

  • Increased empowerment to become active participants in their child’s services

  • Decreased internalized blame by helping to reframe experiences and debunking stigma around behavioral health conditions

  • Decreased feelings of family isolation by identifying and accessing community and natural supports

  • Recognition of the importance of self-care

How?

How do I request this service? 

 

  • If you would like to request a parent peer support provider or learn more about this service, please submit the request form here.

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