Looking back and looking ahead: Partnering with families and the
work of the Research and Training Center
During the past twenty years, work at the Research and Training
Center on Family Support and Children’s Mental Health has
been guided by a vision of family-professional partnership within
systems of care serving children with emotional or behavioral disorders
and their families. This vision sees families and professionals
working together as mutually respected equals, engaging in open
and honest two-way sharing of information. Families are seen as
sources of strength, and they are recognized for their expertise
concerning their children. This form of partnering supports families
and youth as they take leadership in decision making about how services
and supports should be designed, organized, and delivered.
When the Center was first conceived, this vision of partnership
was not widely held, and many professionals involved in the field
of children’s mental health worked under the assumption that
families were primarily to blame for their children’s difficulties.
An important shift was signaled in 1984, however, when Congress
authorized the Child and Adolescent Service System Program (CASSP)
with the goal of improving services for children with serious emotional
disturbances and their families. One of the key components of the
program was its support for extensive family involvement in the
planning and implementation of services and service systems.
In the first years of CASSP, knowledge about what it would take
to achieve extensive family involvement was limited, and goals were
correspondingly modest. For example, states that brought just one
family member (yes, one person, likely not a representative of a
family organization) to a meeting were given accolades. There was
little organization of families for support and advocacy, and virtually
no national policy about children's mental health.
The intervening years have seen the expansion of national family
organizations such as the Federation of Families for Children’s
Mental Health, growing legitimacy for the principle of partnership,
and higher expectations and increased sophistication in understanding
about what partnerships with families and youth can and should be.
At the same time, we have gained a deeper appreciation of the complexity
and challenges of developing partnerships based on an authentic
youth and family voice. For example, consumer- and family-driven,
individualized mental health care is a policy recommendation of
the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, yet
we are only beginning to understand how to recognize when services,
supports, and service delivery truly reflect adherence to this value.
Similarly, the evaluation of the federally-funded Comprehensive
Community Mental Health Services for Children and their Families
Program requires family involvement at all levels of implementation,
including evaluation, yet many communities struggle to realize this
goal.
This year, we wrap up five years’ work on our current research
and training efforts. This work reflects the evolution of expectations
for partnering with youth and families, and is built on the recognition
that partnering successfully requires not only a philosophical commitment
to the value, but also intentional, specific steps to redesign services
and reallocate resources so as to remove logistical and interpersonal
barriers that impede family and youth participation.
As we look ahead to the future, we are planning new work that highlights
the continued evolution in thinking about responses to the complex
needs of children and families. In particular, we hope to help move
the idea of partnerships beyond the formal service sector into other
arenas of community participation, such as education and the work
life of family caregivers. Our goal is to increase knowledge about
how people, coming together in partnership, can work to maximize
opportunities for young people and their families to participate
in the range of roles and settings that they define as important
and meaningful.
We value your input as we plan for the future. We invite you to
post comments or reflections regarding the Center and its current
work and/or future directions. For example:
- What topics do you think are particularly important to study?
- What kinds of training or dissemination activities (e.g., publications,
website, conferences) should we pursue?
- Do you see ways to expand our current work into new areas?
- How might the Center allocate its resources so as to have maximum
impact?
- Are there certain kinds of activities or products that you find
most helpful and would like to see more of?
- Are there specific improvements to activities or products that
you can suggest?
As usual, we look forward to hearing from you.
Barbara Friesen, RTC Director, and Janet S. Walker, Web Editor
Your thoughts…
Comments:
 I too respect the work that you have done, which has supported listening to families and supporting their cultures. I think a priority for the coming years is in building evidence for best practices to the extent that they can become evidence based--there are not enough evidence based practices and we need some that focus on family voice and their individualized needs. Posted Sunday, May 23, 2004 at 09:37 AM
I applaud your center for being out in front of the crowd (in terms of seeing the value of listening and supporting families) and, it seems, for continuing to do so. I think the whole area of partnering with families should continue to be an area that you focus on. Thanks for your great work! Posted Wednesday, May 19, 2004 by RTC fan at 04:49 PM
Post a Comment:
Return to
Current Featured Discussions Page
Top |
