by Beth Ayers, Family Peer Support Lead
January 14, 2023
Families need support.
The mom who must take time off work to take her child to therapy appointments three times a week—needs support. The family struggling to make ends meet due to medical bills while wanting to give their child the best treatment and resources and specialists—needs support. The parent grieving the loss of a child from an overdose—needs support. The family who drives six hours every weekend to visit their child in residential treatment—needs support. The mom who gets turned away at the Emergency Department because her child is deemed chronic and cannot be helped there—needs support. The grandparent whose grandchild has been on every Occupational Therapist’s waiting list for months with no call backs—needs support. The family who home schools their child because their child cannot get an equitable public education—needs support. The families who are tired of fighting for their child to be understood and accepted, to have the same rights and opportunities as other children—they need support. The caregivers who are overwhelmed and exhausted, who feel isolated and alone, who are judged and condemned, who are lost in a work of specialists and medical jargon and hard to pronounce medication and unfamiliar acronyms—they need support. The parents who love their child so much but just don’t know what to do, who desperately need hope—they need support.
These families, our families, need support.
The Family Support Committee was started in 2021 by and for parents and caregivers with lived experience raising a child with a behavioral health challenge and/or special health care need. Its mission is to develop and support Family Peer Supporters in MT to help families, who are currently raising a child with a behavioral health challenge and/or special healthcare need, build support systems, tools, and resiliency. The Family Support Committee’s vision is to establish certification for Family Peer Supporters, develop a state-wide network of families, and support the growth of the Family Peer Support workforce. Committee members will meet monthly with other parents/caregivers with similar lived experience. Members will help plan and choose learning topics for Family First Wednesdays (virtual family support webinars held on the first Wednesday of each month at noon). Most importantly, members of the Family Support Committee will get to advocate for families like theirs in MT. Because—families need support, too.
To join, complete the application for the Family Support Committee. We look forward to working with you!