406.551.1058
info@mtpeernetwork.org

Family Forum

Welcome! You are not Alone!

We are family members, or caregivers with children with special health care needs. It is our lived experience as a family member that set us apart. We promote recovery and wellness in our loved ones and ourselves through the concepts of hope, self-advocacy, education, peer support, personal responsibility and resiliency. We believe that these concepts are universal regardless of what recovery program you may chose. We are a member based organization with a board of directors and staff. Our main office is located in Ennis, Montana, our staff and board of directors are located across Montana.

What is a Family Peer Supporter?

A Family Peer Supporter is a parent or caregiver with lived experience raising a child with a behavioral health challenge and/or special healthcare need along with training who provides support to another parent or caregiver who is currently raising a child with a behavioral health challenge and/or special healthcare need. The Family Peer Supporter works directly with the parent or caregiver, not the child, providing emotional support, resources, and connection to community.

What does a Family Peer Supporter do?

  • engages in empathetic listening and promotes positive feelings towards utilizing services
  • provides flexible, community-based peer support services designed to promote wellness, empowerment, and resiliency
  • provides insight and hope
  • validates and normalizes feelings of fear and confusion through a shared lived experience
  • connects families with community resources and follows up to provide continued support
  • helps parents develop natural supports and positive approaches for addressing their family’s day to day needs
  • encourages parents to adopt and prioritize self care strategies for themselves

Types of Support

Emotional Support– provides connection from people who have “been there.”

Informational Support- includes providing connections to resources, making referrals, and giving information about the children’s health system.

Educational Support- focuses on helping you understand your child's needs, increasing your knowledge and skills, and guiding you in accessing your natural supports.

Concrete Support- includes things such as helping arrange childcare and transportation, finding support groups, and assistance in developing recovery plans.

Beth Ayers
Family Peer Support Lead
Children's Clinic
Billings
406.451.3087
Email Beth

Kayla Myers
Family Peer Supporter
Children's Clinic
Billings
406.613.8679
Email Kayla

Lea Wetzel
Family Peer Supporter
Benefis
Great Falls
406.224.3826
Email Lea

Task Force

The Family Peer Support Task Force and Steering Committee wrapped up with a final in-person meeting in September 2023 in Helena. The FPS Task Force met all goals and created for the profession of Family Peer Support in MT: Scope of Practice, Code of Ethics, Core Competencies, Training Standards, and Certification Requirements. A Family Peer Support Toolkit containing this work is in development. We are proud of the accomplishments and thankful to the members who dedicated their time.

But the work continues! MPN’s Family Action Committee is currently working towards certification and funding for Family Peer Support. If you are interested in being part of this important work for families, apply here.

Montana Circle of Parents
Support Groups

Benchmark Human Services

Children with special healthcare needs
Hill County, Havre
Amanda Christofferson
406-399-3309

Butte 4 C's

Children with special healthcare needs
Silver Bow, Butte
Travis Jackson
406-498-3125

Mineral County Health Dept

Postpartum Mental Health
Mineral, Superior
Jess Schaak
Cell: 406-499-1249
Office: 406-822-3564

Benchmark Human Services-Peace Place

Children with special healthcare needs
Cascade County, Great Falls
Amy Clure
406-781-9242

 

Missoula Public School District

Children with special healthcare needs
Missoula County, Missoula
JJ Blood (James)
406-830-8311

Alliance for Youth

Foster families & Parents in recovery
Cascade County, Great Falls
Isis Olsen

 

Early Childhood Coalition of Beaverhead County

Postpartum Mental Health
Beaverhead County, Dillon
Amber Lacey
720-352-9855

Big Horn County Austism Support & Acceptance

Children with special healthcare needs
Big Horn County, Crow Indian Reservation
Luella Brien

Family Forum Blog

Posted on by Beth Ayers

Human Rights When It Comes to Mental Health

When I began this article, I was going to write about involuntary commitment, in particular for young adult children by their parents. But after spending hours writing and talking to others, I was more confused than when I started. I was left with more questions than answers. And maybe that’s how it should be. Maybe we should wrestle with it. Maybe there is no right or wrong stance but many answers that depend on numerous variables.

Posted on by Kayla Myers

Stepping Into My Wings

Spirituality has been my compass while I learned how to get back into the driver’s seat of my own life. I have always recognized in myself that I am a deep thinker and feeler, but it felt like a curse for a long time. I learned to dim my light within, not listen to my sense of self, and this caused me to sway away from my core values and beliefs. Through hardships, I found myself extremely distanced from my mind body, and soul.

Posted on by Andi Daniel

Embracing the Grinch

I am a “grinch.” Originally, that was a title given to me by people around me. Specifically when I worked at an early childhood program and had small children of my own. I do not enjoy the holidays. There were many years that we didn’t put up a Christmas tree and when my co-workers heard me say that, they acted as if I was severely neglecting my children. We aren’t a religious family so we really only celebrated Christmas as a secular holiday. I enjoyed Christmas Day as a kid. It was predictable. Christmas Eve was different. We spent Christmas eve with my dad’s family and Christmas Day with my mom’s family. My grandpa on my mom’s side loved decorating for the holidays and genuinely enjoyed Christmas so it was fun to be there. Celebrations with my dad’s extended family were always focused around alcohol and were not enjoyable. Inevitably, some family members would have a disagreement that resulted in loud arguments which were scary as a young child but I got to spend time with my great grandma who I adored so I could sometimes block out the other stuff. When my great grandma moved into a nursing home, those larger family gatherings ended and we would visit her on holidays. It was easy to leave when more people showed up because there simply wasn’t enough space in her room for several people.

Posted on by Mandy Waite

Embracing the Simple Pleasures of the Christmas Season

Ah, the Holidays. A season that is meant to bring connection, gratitude, love, hope, and joy. But for many, the holiday season can be extremely painful or difficult for a variety of reasons. I am not a religious person, so the spirit of Christmas for me may be different than many people. Christmas is a celebration, a time for giving and not simply a day we exchange gifts. The spirit of Christmas is in the “togetherness”, it’s in the thought to which you put into thinking about others, it’s a selfless time, where we forgive, take stock of what’s important and become better versions of ourselves. I love the beauty of Christmas. We begin to decorate the first weekend after Halloween, so we can celebrate the season a little longer. My oldest daughter even has the middle name December, because being pregnant with her reminded me of the joy and love that I feel during that month. We love Christmas music and driving around to look at lights. And we also love being able to give the people we love thoughtful gifts.

Posted on by Erin Faulkner

Changing the Way You Think of “Disability”

International Disability Awareness Day is December 3rd. I have labeled myself as a person with a disability for many years. It is not a label that I use to get pity or to collect financial assistance. It is just how I am able to explain with one word that, though I am a successful, capable adult, I do have restrictions and limitations in some activities in my life.
A disability is any condition of the body or mind (impairment) that makes it more difficult for the person with the condition to do certain activities (activity limitation) and interact with the world around them (participation restrictions). A disabled person may not be handicapped if they can find a way around their disability. Often these are accommodations, but they may just be tools or strategies. Examples in these are hearing aids, braille, captioning, notebooks, phone apps, step stools, etc.

Posted on by Erin Faulkner

Special Education:  My Perspective

In honor of National Special Education Day on December 2nd, I am sharing my personal story in the hopes of dispelling stereotypes of what Special Education services means for students now and for their future.  Growing up, and even 18 years ago when my daughter started receiving special education services, I would hear terms like “short bus” or “sped kids” which referred to students who received special education services or had an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).  Though I don’t hear these terms as much today, I know they still exist and the negative attitude towards these students still exists.

Posted on by Erin Faulkner

A Miracle in Recovery

This story is very close to my heart. Anna is my sister. I have seen her struggle since her teenage years. At the heart of her struggles, and only discovered in recent years, is her diagnosis of several mental health challenges. She was also adopted from South Africa as a toddler and has struggled with feelings of abandonment and attachment her whole life. Anna has fought family and friends in search of what would make her feel better, feel more. It has challenged our family as she has lost battles in the past.

Posted on by Jobyna McCarthy

The Experience of Being a Parent of Preemies

I gave birth to 2 preemies; my second preemie Quinn, now 17-years old, was born at 28 weeks gestation (or 2 months early!), weighing 2 pounds, 10.7 ounces. For unknown reasons, I went into preterm labor which couldn’t be stopped, and was sent into an emergency C-section due to a prolapsed umbilical cord. Quinn was intubated immediately, but after only a day, was breathing on his own.  However, at one week old, and only weighing 3 pounds, he underwent surgery, one very common to premature infants called patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) ligation. This duct in their heart closes in full term infants, but often stays open in preemies.

Posted on by Erin Faulkner

A Personal Gratitude Challenge

As I typically do when writing on a topic, I looked for definitions and synonyms to make sure that my readers and I are on the same page. Gratitude is “the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness”. I like those words: thankful, appreciation, kindness. I think it is easy to say thank you, but more powerful to show appreciation and kindness. It is similar to how saying sorry is just a word, but an apology says why and how you will make it better. It carries more weight.

Posted on by Kayla Myers

Sensoring Processing Disorder

by Kayla Myers, Family Peer SupporterOctober 31, 2023Sensory Processing Disorder was something I was very naive to before having a child diagnosed with Autism. There are 1 in 20 people affected by this every day. Someone living with SPD might be obvious to spot (like my son), while others, you might never know unless you…