In response to my “what holds us back” blog entry, I received an email from a Daughters and Sons Initiative organizer who was active several years ago. She asked, “In a future blog, maybe you can address what progress has been made in the US and also what the UK and Australia are doing that we could do too. I know a bit about these topics, but would like to learn more.”
It’s been on my mind since to take a stab at it. I receive emails weekly from people in the US and Australia that are working on exciting projects. Frankly, when I looked on the web for resources on this topic in 2003 it was hard to find much. Now there has been an explosion of interest in this topic and it is exciting to see real momentum and attention being given to improve the lives of these children and parents.
Here goes an attempt to update ya’ll. Please add to it in the comments! Tell me what you are doing....
Crossing my email stream these days:
In the US, the UPenn Collaborative has changed its name to Temple University Collaborative. They are doing proactive research and policy analysis to build an evidence-basis for provision of supported parenting with U.S. adult mental health systems. They are joined in this effort with researchers UMass Medical Center, Michigan State University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and University of Oklahoma – to name a few. I don’t think I am up on everything, but I receive information from my web of contacts on a weekly basis and I try to link people to parallel efforts happening in various states.
In Utah, Pennsylvania, Florida and Connecticut there have been active efforts to create supportive workshops and educational environments for children currently under 18 years who have a parent with a diagnosed mental illness.
Educational and policy related activities are happening this April via Daughters and Sons organizer Cheri Bragg (Connecticut) and a collaboration between Edie Mannion and Loran Kundra (Mental Health Association of SE PA) in Philadelphia, PA.
I will be presenting a workshop on supported parenting at the NAMI National Convention in Chicago this year. The panelists are people who have been actively doing supported parenting pilot projects and parenting assessment research in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. This workshop will be our 9th continual presence bringing these topics to NAMI National Conventions. As a former foster care child in the Wisconsin child welfare systems, this workshop is particularly close to my heart for its location and because a pilot supported parenting program for young mothers who are aging out of foster care will be discussed. All too often, the topic of poverty and its intersection with mental health is overlooked in these national mental health advocacy forums.
Australia is truly leading the way with resources and is far ahead of the US on many topics related to supporting families where a parent has a mental illness. The trendsetters on these topics are COPMI and COMIC in Australia. The UK is also far ahead with the efforts of the Princess Royal Trust for Carers, among other initiatives. (See resource links at the bottom of this post)
At first it was the Internet and email, but now social media is opening up new avenues for discussion, exchange of resources, and support. Several Facebook communities and websites exist now for adults who have a parent with mental illness. These communities have been created by people in Quebec, Canada; Rome, Italy; California and New Mexico, USA. Through these Facebook communities people with lived experience and researchers who are willing to use social media are exchanging ideas. This means that new resources reach thousands of people. (However, it seems there resources are circling in largely first world counties or among people who speak English. Perhaps more is happening, but my language limitations keep me unaware?)
A website for the Daughters and Sons Initiative is under development. We are seeking a fiscal sponsor to sustain and grow our work.
I am currently exploring ideas to put forth presentation proposals at the next international conference on these topics. Among ideas being discussed: the role of social media and the internet to organize nationally and internationally for children who have a parent with mental illness and parents with mental illness; the challenge of organizing on this topic in the United States compared to Australia, the UK etc.; the interplay between the role of researchers and community organizers (such as myself) in order to move policy forward. I just started exploring ideas for a one or two workshop proposals for this 2012 conference. (Ideas? I would love to hear from my fellow organizers.) The conference details:
Child and Youth Mental Health Matters
First National Parental Mental Health Conference
First International Young Carers Congress
Third International World Congress on Children of Parents with Mental Illness
Vancouver, B.C., Canada
May 6-8, 2012
DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSION: September 26, 2011
Here are some websites for people who want more information:
(Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion (United States): http://tucollaborative.org/index.html
COPMI (Australia): http://www.copmi.net.au/
COMIC (Australia): http://www.howstat.com/comic/Home.asp
Check out the nicely revamped website for UMass Medical Center’s Parenting Well project (United States): http://www.parentingwell.org/
A young carers website from the Princess Royal Trust for Carers (United Kingdom): http://www.youngcarers.net/
More information from the Royal College of Psychiatrists (United Kingdom): http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mentalhealthinfo/mentalhealthandgrowingup/parentalmentalillness.aspx
Mental Health America (United States) on parenting with mental illness and custody issues: http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/go/information/get-info/strengthening-families/when-a-parent-has-a-mental-illness-child-custody-issues
Yikkies! This is a lot to share because there are great resources being developed. All we need to do is bring these topics to the people who are trained, but simply have remained unaware of how doing small things would have great impact on the lives of the people they work with in mental health and child welfare systems
For adults who have (or had) a parent with mental illness, resources are also developing, but at a slower pace. It is up to US to develop those resources for ourselves.
The Crooked House website, which hosts this blog, has been a wonderful addition to those efforts. I know the creators hope more Daughters and Sons will share our diversity of experiences. We need to break stigma so that millions of us who have lived in the shadows of prejudice will understand our experience through access to peers.
I know that I have missed A LOT of resources here. If you know of a resource I missed, please post that resource as part of your comments! Lets keep the exchange of information going.
Peace,
Maggie
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