Congratulations to our latest class of parent peer support graduates! They were one of our biggest classes yet and one of our most enthusiastic and insightful. We wish them well as they use their lived experience and learned skills to support other parents. Most will be working in mental health programs, but we also had participants who work in youth courts, private practice and faith-based settings. Four of the participants shared their thoughts about the training:
“I would like to thank Families as Allies for the outstanding training I received to become a Parent Peer Support Specialist. Not only did I gain more knowledge and skills to help my clients but to also better help my son who struggles with his mental health.” — Ashley McGarrah
“Parent peer support training is informational and helpful as a parent and a peer support specialist. This family-driven training has given me and my fellow peers the information we need to succeed and help other parent/caregivers.” — Ashley Glascoe
“I enjoyed the peer support training to the fullest! Being in the presence of compassionate and like-minded people was very enlightening. I felt we were all driven to help families in need during difficult times.” — Monica Webber
“It was really insightful and geared me with tools to help other caregivers and parents to access resources directly related to the laws and rights of youth with disabilities both physical and behavioral as it pertains to the education system.”– Luxury Bell
We encourage any parent who wants to support other parents to consider parent peer support training. The next training is July 18 – 22, and the registration deadline is June 20. We appreciate the Mississippi Department of Mental Health, especially Dr. LaTarsha Michael, coordinating with us to make this training possible.
You can learn more about parent peer support in this brochure or contact Families as Allies. We currently have funds available to pay training stipends to parents involved in the youth court system who want to learn to do parent peer support with other parents. We also have funds to pay parents of children with special health care needs to do a shorter training to learn to provide parent peer support on Making A Plan (MAP) teams.
We hope to see all current parent peer supporters (including our recent graduates!) at our monthly Supportive Coaching for Parents Supporting Other Parents on June 8 at noon CDT. Do you supervise or employ parents who support other parents? Please join us for our Parent Peer Support Conversation for Anyone working with Parent Peer Supporters on June 23 from 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. CDT.
