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Bringing Family Lived Experience To You
Accept, Advocate, Act
August 1, 2024 | Volume 2, Issue 11
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Note from the Executive Director
Advocating for Health Equity
The National Federation of Families has been hard at work this summer planning for another year of advocating for health equity. We just got back from our
strategic planning meeting in Orlando where we laid out some exciting events and products we can't wait to bring you soon! We were also there getting ready to host the most enthusiastic advocates for mental health acceptance at our 35th Annual Conference this November! We think you're going to enjoy what we have planned for this special anniversary conference and celebration!
Our full conference agenda with presenters and session descriptions will be released soon so you can plan your personal conference experience. You're going to learn how family mental health advocates are making an impact in their communities, states, and nationwide.
While our NFSTAC events are still on summer break, we are currently setting the new series in motion. We have so many great events in the works! In the meantime, make sure to review our NFSTAC resources to add to your personal toolkit.
We hope the end of your summer is relaxing and that you are getting rejuvenated to keep advocating for mental health equity with us now and together in November for our 35th birthday!
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Lynda Gargan, PhD
Executive Director, National Federation of Families
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35th Annual Conference in Orlando, FL | | |
Look for the Full Schedule and the Conference App to go live this month! | |
Conference Keynote and Plenary Speakers | | |
Become a Sponsor Today!
Did you know individuals and organizations can sponsor the only national conference dedicated solely to supporting families whose children—of any age—experience mental health and/or substance use challenges during their lifetime? Join our growing list of sponsors and enjoy great benefits at this year's conference while networking and promoting your work and programs with key researchers, administrators, policymakers, family members, youth, clinicians, and other stakeholders across the nation. Click the button below to learn more and see who else is sponsoring.
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Reserve Your Exhibitor Space Today!
The National Federation of Families' 2024 Conference is taking place at the Hyatt in Orlando, FL November 7th – 9th. Receive great exposure and networking opportunities while helping support the work of the National Federation by reserving an exhibitor space at our national conference. Your exhibitor table will be visited by hundreds of families, family advocates, and mental health and substance use leaders from across the nation. Space is limited! Join us to network and promote your organization or company.
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Affiliate and Partner News | |
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We're excited to announce our newest affiliate in Oklahoma, Evolution Foundation. With the motto of Respect, Resilience, Results, and Recovery, Evolution Foundation focuses on behavioral health challenges and adherence to the values of Systems of Care for families and children. They provide technical assistance and leadership to approximately 65 local community coalitions and lead the implementation of the SAFER (Safely Advocating Families Engagement in Recovery) Initiative offering an array of supports and services for pregnant women—or women who may become pregnant—who experience substance use challenges. Additionally, Evolution Foundation is preparing to launch OBFASA (Oklahoma Birthparents Advocacy & Support Alliance) created expressly for families who have lost children to the child welfare system or are in danger of losing them. They specialize in community organizing, with an emphasis on community coalitions, providers, partner agencies, and advocates focused on supporting families and children who experience behavioral health challenges.
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We're excited to introduce our groundbreaking partnership with the FMI Foundation. Established in 1996, the FMI Foundation focuses on research, education, and resources in the areas of health and well-being. The FMI Foundation is the creator and steward of the Family Meals Movement, now celebrating its 10th anniversary.
Thousands of studies have shown the positive impact of family meals, however family is defined, on physical health, mental health, and overall connectedness among those seated around the table. Family meals have been shown to improve diet quality, strengthen personal relationships, and boost peace and happiness among participants.
We are partnering with the FMI Foundation to shine a spotlight nationwide on the power of family meals. We will celebrate this partnership at our annual conference in November, and in the meantime we ask you to help us showcase your family meals. Stay tuned for more details on this exciting engagement opportunity. We will also enjoy a family meal together as we celebrate the National Federation of Families award-winning colleagues. Register for the conference today!
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SAMHSA-Sponsored NFF Webinars
We completed the last webinars of our SAMHSA-sponsored series Person-Centered, Family-Driven Mental Health and Substance Use Support: A Path Towards Equity!
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You can now watch all of the webinars on our YouTube page:
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NFSTAC News and Highlights | | |
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In addition to the curated resources in the NFSTAC Resource Library, our team has worked with family members and the workforce to create a number of resources for families and family peers, including:
And more!
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NFSTAC events are on hiatus during July and August! Stay tuned for updates about our new Family Connections, Office Hour, and Webinar series coming in September on the NFSTAC Events page! You can also find links to all past NFSTAC trainings to keep learning all summer. | NFSTAC invites you to submit requests for free technical assistance from our network of partners and subject matter experts. NFSTAC is driven by the needs of families and the workforce that supports families. You'll find education, training, and family support resources tailored specifically to families, the family peer workforce, communities, healthcare systems, clinicians, and educators. | |
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Updated 30 Days of Advocacy Challenge
The legislative recess in August is a great time to start NFF's 30 Days of Advocacy Challenge! We've updated our challenge so that it's relevant all year long, because we have to advocate every month of the year, not just May!
Spend some time exploring our interactive calendar at the bottom of the Advocacy Homepage to embark on your advocacy journey by:
- Educating yourself on the history of the children's mental health movement, acceptance, and social justice and parity in mental health support
- Gaining skills to use your story as an advocacy tool
- Leveraging social media to promote acceptance
- Developing and sharing an advocacy elevator pitch
- Getting up-to-date on recent and current mental health legislation
- Making a plan to contact your legislators about the issues that matter most to you
- Getting active when it comes to advocating for mental health acceptance!
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NFF Advocates for Department of Labor Standard Occupational Classification for Peer Specialists
As a member of the Mental Health Liaison Group, NFF has signed on to a letter being sent to the Bureau of Labor Statistics urging them to create a standard occupational code for peer support specialists. This will further legitimize this profession, help track salaries and pay ranges, and support tracking the number of peer specialists. Currently, peer specialists are not counted as a separate labor group, but rather as a part of the "community health worker" standard occupational code, making it difficult to accurately discuss how many peer specialists are currently working in the United States. Having an authentic count of how many peers are working helps individuals and families with lived experience, as well as peers themselves, better advocate for needed funding and support for this essential workforce.
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Lifting Voices for Actionable Change
Please Join the Movement and Participate in This Important Survey
We're excited to share this opportunity with our network. The Lifting Voices project aims to address stigma and equity in mental health and substance use treatment nationwide by lifting the voices of families. Learn more below and join our friends and colleagues, Heidi and Ellen, in this important effort to address social justice in health care.
Heidi Arthur, LMSW, and Ellen Breslin, MPP, are parents whose children's serious mental health challenges highlighted the very issues they work to address in their roles as advisors to state government and service providers to children and families. They want to make treatment access and recovery possible for every child. Learn more about Heidi and Ellen and read their own powerful family stories here.
The Lifting Voices survey aims to elevate the voices of children, youth, and families in order to learn more about what has worked and what is needed. In 2023, Heidi and Ellen took their passion and commitment for a test drive when they elevated the voices of a small sample of parents and youth, as captured in their most recent report.
Heidi and Ellen shared what they learned at several national conferences and have built a network of advisors and champions. Next, they plan to use a standardized survey, convene focus groups, and conduct key informant interviews to elicit input from other parents/caregivers and their youth/young adults who have experienced multiple suicide attempts, overdoses, and an array of interventions related to complex mental health conditions during childhood and adolescence.
They plan to compile and disseminate their findings to inform state-level systems transformation to keep kids alive and help them thrive. If you’d like to join this movement, take their survey, or participate in a focus group, please send a message to harthur@healthmanagement.com or ebreslin@healthmanagement.com with the subject line Lifting Voices and a message indicating your interest. They will get in touch with you. Together, we’ll lift our voices to create actionable change.
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Visit our social justice page to explore ways individuals and organizations can promote social justice for families whose children—of any age—experience mental health and/or substance use challenges during their lifetime. We encourage you to use the tools provided there to strengthen your efforts to #AcceptAdvocateAct. | |
Celebrating Our Affiliates! | | |
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Indiana Family to Family presents its 8th Annual Heart to Heart Conference Thursday, September 26, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Heart to Heart provides families and those caring for or serving children and youth in Indiana with diverse health, education, and mental health needs or disabilities with information and resources on topics important to them in language they can understand delivered by subject matter experts. The virtual conference platform gives registered attendees the flexibility to select sessions that work best for their schedules and the ability to access session recordings for a month following the conference. All Heart to Heart presentations will feature live interpretation into ASL and Spanish. Registration is free for families and professionals. Share a day of learning and fellowship with other families, caregivers, and professionals committed to improving systems and services for children and youth with diverse needs at the 2024 INF2F Heart to Heart Conference!
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Interested in being a Featured Affiliate?
We would love to feature YOU! Reach out to kengelbracht@ffcmh.org if your
organization has a program, event, or great story to share!
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August is Teen Mental Health Month! Teen Mental Health Month is an annual awareness campaign dedicated to promoting and prioritizing the mental well-being of teenagers. It aims to educate, support, and empower teens by providing resources, events, and initiatives focused on mental health and wellbeing.
Visit This is Brave's toolkit to get involved by:
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MHA's BIPOC Mental Health Toolkit in Spanish
Last month, we shared Mental Health America's BIPOC Mental Health Toolkit for July's National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. Now, this toolkit—which is an evergreen resource all year long—is also available for download in Spanish!
Share this resource with any Spanish-speaking families or family peers who work with these families!
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SAMHSA's Homeless and Housing Resource Center (HHRC) recently released a toolkit to support tenants with mental health and/or substance use challenges living in community-based low-income housing and service providers as they work to prevent evictions and keep people in stable housing to avoid the trauma of eviction. | | |
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SAMHSA’s Prevention Day brings together over 4,000 prevention practitioners, advocates, scientists, leaders, and individuals with lived experience at the largest federal gathering dedicated to advancing the prevention of substance use. The event explores current, emerging, and innovative strategies, policies, programs, practices, and research. The 2025 theme, "Telling the Prevention Story," underscores sharing the successes of prevention and inspiring action.
Submit your abstract by September 4 to share your substance use prevention successes, challenges, lessons learned, and insights with colleagues from across the country on February 2, 2025 in National Harbor, MD!
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2025 UConn Training Institutes
Call for Proposals is Out!
Innovations Institute welcomes presentation proposals for the 2025 Training Institutes, Building a World Where Young People Thrive, that challenge us to advance research-based, inclusive, culturally responsive, and transformative solutions to improve outcomes. Join colleagues from across the country who will present their work in more than 165 innovative, in-depth workshops that address workforce development, systems design and financing, data-driven strategic planning, evidence-based services, cultural competence and equity, and quality improvement for child/youth and family services including mental health, substance use, public health, juvenile justice, child welfare, education, early childhood, and transition age services.
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