by Beth Ayers
September 30, 2025
Family Peers for Hope (FPH) is a newly formed, 501c3 family-run organization in Montana dedicated to strengthening and expanding Family Peer Support across the state. Our mission is to lead the development and expansion of family peer support in Montana, providing hope, empowering families, building connections, and inspiring change. We fulfill this mission through training, consulting, technical assistance, and advocacy.
What is Family Peer Support?
Family Peer Support is a unique and powerful approach where a trained parent or caregiver with lived experience raising a child with a behavioral health challenge and/or special healthcare need provides support to another parent or caregiver who is currently navigating similar experiences. The Family Peer Support Specialist works directly with the parent or caregiver, not the child, offering emotional support, sharing resources, and building connections to community. This peer-to-peer model creates trust and understanding that only lived experience can bring.
Why Family Peers for Hope?
FPH was founded to meet a growing need in Montana: an independent, family-run organization focused exclusively on developing a statewide family support network and advancing the Certified Family Peer Support Specialist workforce. The organization is led by Executive Director Beth Ayers joined by Community Outreach Coordinator Kayla Myers and guided by an experienced Board of Directors, each of whom are parents or caregivers of children with behavioral health challenges and/or special healthcare needs.
Our formation builds upon the important foundation laid by Montana’s Peer Network (MPN). Since 2021, MPN has supported parents and caregivers through advocacy, workforce development, education, and direct services. In 2022, MPN created a Families Division, which achieved remarkable progress in just a few years:
- Forming the MT Family Peer Support Task Force to develop professional workforce standards.
- Running a statewide pilot project providing Family Peer Support services and gathering data that helped Montana’s Governor allocate funding to Family Peer Support programs in 2024.
- Building a statewide Family Membership to create community, connection, and mutual support for parents and caregivers.
- Working with legislators on HB76, which established state certification for Family Peer Support and was signed into law in May 2025.
Family Peers for Hope now carries this work forward, ensuring that parents and caregivers raising children with behavioral health challenges and/or special healthcare needs continue to have access to trained, certified Family Peer Support Specialists.
What Does It Mean to Be Family-Run?
According to the Family-Run Executive Director Leadership Association (FREDLA), a family-run organization is one in which the majority of the board of directors and staff are family members who have raised or are raising children with behavioral health challenges or special healthcare needs. These organizations are uniquely positioned to serve families because their leadership and services are grounded in lived experience.
As a family-run organization, FPH ensures that families’ voices guide every level of decision-making, from governance to program design to service delivery. This commitment guarantees that the work we do is relevant, responsive, and rooted in real family needs.
Looking Ahead
Family Peers for Hope has created Family Peer Support 101, a comprehensive 40-hour training experience that meets Montana’s Certified Family Peer Support Specialist proposed training requirements, the training standards developed by the Montana Family Peer Support Task Force, and National Federation of Families core competencies. Family Peer Support 101 Training is a highly interactive and comprehensive learning experience designed to provide education and basic skills for those seeking to provide family peer support services in Montana. The training is designed to facilitate understanding of trainees’ own resiliency story, build upon strengths, network with other family peer supporters, and understand the instrumental role of family peer support in the wellness and resilience process. To be notified when training becomes available, visit our training page, click the “Register Here” button, and fill out the form. Family Peers for Hope anticipates offering the first training in January 2026.
Family Peers for Hope is committed to building on past progress while forging a strong future for families in Montana. By expanding training opportunities, strengthening the Certified Family Peer Support workforce, and advocating for systems that truly value family voice, we aim to create a statewide network of hope, empowerment, and connection.
Together, we believe families are stronger and with Family Peer Support, no parent or caregiver has to walk the journey alone.
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